Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil Sells 3,069 Shares of Stock

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of IONS stock traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $79.37. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,039,250 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,081,201. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $39.72 and a one year high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.34 and a beta of 0.37. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $75.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS 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 the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Barclays increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.90.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,158,000 after buying an additional 82,560 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,370,000 after buying an additional 258,155 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.