Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Sets New 1-Year High – Still a Buy?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $85.64 and last traded at $85.1050, with a volume of 647504 shares. The stock had previously closed at $81.49.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $87.05.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $13.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.79 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $77.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.60. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The company had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total value of $2,262,960.00. Following the sale, the director owned 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,348.70. This represents a 43.73% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 23,463 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.12, for a total transaction of $1,856,392.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 30,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,409,441.36. This trade represents a 43.52% 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 266,024 shares of company stock valued at $20,227,230. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.