Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Hits New 52-Week High – Still a Buy?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Monday . The company traded as high as $83.50 and last traded at $80.1950, with a volume of 7764 shares. The stock had previously closed at $82.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8%

The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a PE ratio of -48.09 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $71.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $53.01.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 33,038 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.72, for a total transaction of $2,501,637.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 59,657 shares in the company, valued at $4,517,228.04. The trade was a 35.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.74, for a total value of $358,700.00. Following the sale, the director owned 61,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,400,818.56. This represents a 7.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 930,139 shares of company stock worth $60,372,435. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.