Guggenheim Reaffirms Buy Rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

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

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $27.09 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $26.88 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $32.05 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $35.33.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last three months. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares in the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after buying an additional 492,900 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,976,000 after buying an additional 18,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,948,000. 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.