Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Earns “Buy” Rating from Guggenheim

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Guggenheim in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on IONS. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.71 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.00. 106,361 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,459,088. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.20 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $27.00 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.47.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last quarter. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the period. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $51,000. Finally, Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.