Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $39,046.45 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS traded down $0.43 on Monday, reaching $31.89. 1,430,336 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,682,475. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $33.65 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $38.24. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of -10.49 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.23 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

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.