Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Leerink Partners Analyst Says

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target upped by equities research analysts at Leerink Partners from $122.00 to $129.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Leerink Partners’ target price suggests a potential upside of 64.94% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on IONS. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS traded up $1.69 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $78.21. 844,508 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,045,941. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $39.37 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $12.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.81 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total value of $381,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 51,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,006.88. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total transaction of $368,483.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,782,506.21. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 93,914 shares of company stock worth $6,941,424 over the last 90 days. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.