Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Given Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nineteen brokerages that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, five have assigned a hold recommendation, twelve have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $60.65.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partners raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $33.73 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $33.63 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.91 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.82 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.33 and a 200-day moving average of $42.69.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. The trade was a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 8,197 shares of company stock worth $315,310 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,914 shares during the last quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,384,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,376,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% during the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 952,762 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the last quarter. 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.