Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ (IONS) “Buy” Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat.com reports. They presently have a $100.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 127.38% from the company’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $86.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.20.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $43.98. The company had a trading volume of 772,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,591,028. The company has a 50 day moving average of $55.33 and a 200-day moving average of $67.61. The firm has a market cap of $7.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.72 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $43.01 and a 52 week high of $86.74.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP C. Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,038.28. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total transaction of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This trade represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 110,078 shares of company stock worth $9,021,117 in the last 90 days. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $41,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $43,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $48,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company that discovers and develops medicines using antisense technology, which is designed to target RNA and influence the production of disease-related proteins. The company focuses on neurological, cardiovascular, metabolic and other serious diseases for which there remains a significant unmet medical need.

Ionis has developed several approved therapies, including SPINRAZA (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, QALSODY (tofersen) for a form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, TEGSEDI (inotersen) for hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis and WAYLIVRA (volanesorsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome in certain markets.