Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $2,107,300.00 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This trade represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded down $1.32 on Tuesday, reaching $79.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,039,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,201. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $39.72 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.34 and a beta of 0.37. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $75.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Bank of America raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.