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

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 value of $1,856,392.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 30,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,409,441.36. The trade was a 43.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

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 value of $3,901.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded up $2.96 on Tuesday, reaching $81.49. The stock had a trading volume of 2,651,727 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,833,575. The stock has a market cap of $13.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.22 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $83.61. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $77.51 and its 200 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 (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Park Avenue Securities LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $283,000. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,733 shares of the company’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 392 shares during the period. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $447,000. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $1,529,000. Finally, Alpine Global Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 119.8% in the third quarter. Alpine Global Management LLC now owns 55,900 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,657,000 after acquiring an additional 30,463 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.