Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Gap Down to $38.00

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $38.00, but opened at $37.04. Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $37.34, with a volume of 127,073 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.7 %

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.57 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.87) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,675,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 62,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,436 shares of the company’s stock worth $700,000 after purchasing an additional 348 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,633 shares of the company’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 351 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.