Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider Sells 26,000 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $79.37 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.34 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.72 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.35. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Bank of America upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.90.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 318.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 103,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,745,000 after purchasing an additional 78,470 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $3,980,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $37,845,000. Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 824,540 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,915,000 after acquiring an additional 57,651 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,981,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.