Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $33.32, but opened at $32.50. Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $32.25, with a volume of 130,749 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. 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 research report on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.57 and a beta of 0.35. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $35.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.34.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 57,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,914,820 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $266,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 63,206 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,210,000 after purchasing an additional 11,431 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 61,619 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,154,000 after acquiring an additional 2,613 shares in the last quarter. 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.