Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen Sells 8,000 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $605,360.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,805,503.71. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Up 1.2%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $73.82 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.66 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.72 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $74.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.78.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.78 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the 1st quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on IONS. Citigroup began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target for the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

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.