Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $2,827,460.45 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Kyle Jenne also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 16th, Kyle Jenne sold 1,823 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.96, for a total value of $138,475.08.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.87 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $74.79. 1,839,227 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,315,510. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.66) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,752 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in 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. 93.86% of the stock is owned by 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.