Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett Monia Sells 34,103 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett Monia sold 34,103 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total value of $2,589,099.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. The trade was a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

IONS stock opened at $74.79 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $80.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83.

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

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after buying an additional 5,238,571 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after acquiring an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.