Elizabeth Hougen Sells 10,172 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Elizabeth Hougen sold 10,172 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.21, for a total transaction of $744,692.12. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,051,538.60. The trade was a 10.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.66 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $71.67. 2,180,298 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,331,160. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.37 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.20 and its 200 day moving average is $75.07. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in 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 worth $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake 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 purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

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.