Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $703,138.18 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at $4,829,445.10. This trade represents a 12.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $81.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.15. The stock has a market cap of $13.25 billion, a PE ratio of -48.40 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $79.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $64.55.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EU approval for Dawnzera in hereditary angioedema expands Ionis’ commercial footprint after the drug already cleared the U.S. last August; this approval accelerates launch/market access opportunities in Europe and is the likely near-term catalyst supporting the stock’s move higher. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and technical backdrop is mixed but constructive: consensus remains a “Moderate Buy” with a ~ $87 consensus target, and the stock is trading above its 200‑day moving average (support) while sitting near the 50‑day — elevated intraday volume shows active positioning that could amplify moves around clinical/commercial milestones. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, concentrated insider selling on Jan. 16 — including CEO Brett P. Monia (~44,034 shares) and multiple EVPs (individual sales in the ~8k–13k share range) totaling roughly ~117k shares — may pressure sentiment despite possible non-fundamental reasons (tax/diversification). Review the SEC disclosures and press reports for details. Read More. Read More.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Oppenheimer upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.