Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Bank of America Analyst Says

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective raised by investment analysts at Bank of America from $100.00 to $111.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Bank of America‘s price target indicates a potential upside of 45.90% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $93.58.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $1.10 during trading on Thursday, reaching $76.08. 264,158 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,248,475. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $78.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $76.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $25.74 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83. The stock has a market cap of $12.57 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.20 and a beta of 0.40.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $458,591.65. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 16,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,569.40. This trade represents a 27.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at $888,506.90. The trade was a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 974,413 shares of company stock valued at $75,333,995 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.