Guggenheim Trims Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Target Price to $65.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target decreased by Guggenheim from $70.00 to $65.00 in a report published on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an underperform rating to a market perform rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a buy rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an outperform rating to a market perform rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, TD Cowen lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $60.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $38.44 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.40 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.06 and a 200 day moving average of $43.42. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,384. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,965 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $630,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $765,000. Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after acquiring an additional 11,210 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $613,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.