Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Given “Buy” Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $60.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 68.40% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on IONS. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $35.63 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.91 and a quick ratio of 8.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.60 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $37.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the 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 owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578 over the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.