What is Leerink Partnrs’ Forecast for IONS FY2024 Earnings?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – Equities researchers at Leerink Partnrs dropped their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 21st. Leerink Partnrs analyst M. Foroohar now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of ($3.53) for the year, down from their previous estimate of ($3.51). The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($3.47) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ Q4 2024 earnings at ($1.12) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.34) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($0.85) EPS, FY2028 earnings at $0.51 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $2.30 EPS.

IONS has been the subject of several other reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $34.46 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $31.40 and a fifty-two week high of $52.49. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.81. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.12 and a beta of 0.35.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total value of $291,024.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,539,706.85. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 57,293 shares of company stock worth $1,914,820 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.