Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target Cut to $47.00 by Analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price lowered by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $51.00 to $47.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on IONS. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $33.03 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $30.23 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,816 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,914 over the last three months. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.