Eric Swayze Sells 23,463 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eric Swayze sold 23,463 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.12, for a total transaction of $1,856,392.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 30,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,409,441.36. This trade represents a 43.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Eric Swayze also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, October 16th, Eric Swayze sold 53 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total transaction of $3,901.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $2.96 on Tuesday, reaching $81.49. The company had a trading volume of 2,651,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,833,575. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $77.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $61.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $83.61. The firm has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a PE ratio of -48.22 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 3rd 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after acquiring an additional 48,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after acquiring an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $59.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reissued 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 analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.05.

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.