Oppenheimer Increases Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $75.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective hoisted by equities research analysts at Oppenheimer from $72.00 to $75.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 74.66% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.08.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $42.94 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 5.90, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.07 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $47.49. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $34.32 and a 12 month high of $54.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.77 and a beta of 0.39.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The business had revenue of $325.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $176.01 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.37) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.92 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total transaction of $94,510.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,324 shares in the company, valued at $1,701,097.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 32,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total value of $1,616,414.78. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,136 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,771,537.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total transaction of $94,510.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,701,097.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 101,734 shares of company stock valued at $5,152,226. 2.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after buying an additional 202 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.1% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 62,532 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after acquiring an additional 348 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.