Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 44,199 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers sold 44,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. This represents a 71.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

IONS traded down $1.24 on Friday, reaching $80.30. 2,668,615 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,351,055. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.51 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $61.89. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $86.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. The business had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.05.

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.