Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Rating Lowered to Sell at StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday.

IONS has been the topic of several other reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective 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. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded down $1.65 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $35.58. The company had a trading volume of 207,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,310,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $42.80. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $35.50 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $252,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. The trade was a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 8,197 shares of company stock valued at $315,310. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $613,000. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the period. Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% during the first quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,229 shares of the company’s stock valued at $704,000 after purchasing an additional 3,990 shares during the period. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.