Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $60.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on IONS. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ IONS opened at $35.63 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $37.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $42.28. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $33.33 and a 1-year high of $54.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $202,000. BLB&B Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the second quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC now owns 153,750 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,328,000 after purchasing an additional 7,650 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.3% during the second quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 132,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,292,000 after purchasing an additional 13,426 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,707 shares of the company’s stock worth $463,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 22,669 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,080,000 after purchasing an additional 695 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.