William Blair Brokers Increase Earnings Estimates for IONS

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) – Equities research analysts at William Blair lifted their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, January 21st. William Blair analyst M. Minter now forecasts that the company will post earnings per share of ($3.60) for the year, up from their prior estimate of ($3.80). William Blair has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ current full-year earnings is ($3.47) per share.

A number of other equities analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $32.50 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $31.40 and a 12-month high of $52.49. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a PE ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 0.35. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $35.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.86.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 57,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,914,820 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,657 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $252,000. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 28.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 68,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,950 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.8% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 18,115 shares of the company’s stock worth $863,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.