Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $245,520.00 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil sold 3,069 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total transaction of $245,520.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 61,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,917,600. This represents a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.3%

IONS stock opened at $81.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a PE ratio of -39.52 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $75.44 and its 200 day moving average is $77.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $40.03 and a one year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% in the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.90.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.