Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given “Buy” Rating at HC Wainwright

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They presently have a $100.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective points to a potential upside of 128.33% from the company’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $54.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.20.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $43.80 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $43.01 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $55.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $67.61. The company has a market capitalization of $7.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.70 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,400. The trade was a 26.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP C. Bennett sold 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 valued at $9,021,117 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $283,000. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 42.8% during the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 49,178 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,899,000 after acquiring an additional 14,746 shares in the last quarter. MCF Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12,172.0% in the second quarter. MCF Advisors LLC now owns 6,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $487,000 after purchasing an additional 6,086 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the second quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 2,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 43,302 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,433,000 after buying an additional 1,036 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.