Michael R. Hayden Buys 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.4 %

Shares of IONS opened at $32.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s fifty day moving average is $30.56 and its 200 day moving average is $33.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.98) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.67.

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.