Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Elizabeth Hougen Sells 215,048 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Elizabeth Hougen sold 215,048 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $15,569,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,721,036.80. The trade was a 69.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $71.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $79.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $75.05. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $11.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.37 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.