Wells Fargo & Company Lowers Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Price Target to $82.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price target reduced by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $85.00 to $82.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price objective indicates a potential upside of 103.52% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.64 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $40.29. 526,504 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,109,762. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The firm has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.88 and a beta of 0.41. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.92. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $34.79 and a 1-year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. The business had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.42 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 46.32% and a negative return on equity of 90.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.87) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 10,393 shares of company stock worth $440,127 over the last ninety days. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HealthInvest Partners AB acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $1,226,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,242,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,351,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $3,158,000. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 75.2% during the third quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 183,349 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,317,000 after purchasing an additional 78,724 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $9,329,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.