Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers Sells 6,193 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers sold 6,193 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,210,569.40. This trade represents a 27.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded down $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $74.79. 1,791,633 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,327,175. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $78.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $75.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.66) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $92.84.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. CWM LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised 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 worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.