Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $674,621.55 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP C Frank Bennett sold 8,977 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total value of $674,621.55. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,757 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,120,988.55. This trade represents a 8.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $81.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.40 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $79.27 and a 200-day simple moving average of $64.55. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after acquiring an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 48,141 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EU approval for Dawnzera in hereditary angioedema expands Ionis’ commercial footprint after the drug already cleared the U.S. last August; this approval accelerates launch/market access opportunities in Europe and is the likely near-term catalyst supporting the stock’s move higher. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst and technical backdrop is mixed but constructive: consensus remains a “Moderate Buy” with a ~ $87 consensus target, and the stock is trading above its 200?day moving average (support) while sitting near the 50?day — elevated intraday volume shows active positioning that could amplify moves around clinical/commercial milestones. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, concentrated insider selling on Jan. 16 — including CEO Brett P. Monia (~44,034 shares) and multiple EVPs (individual sales in the ~8k–13k share range) totaling roughly ~117k shares — may pressure sentiment despite possible non-fundamental reasons (tax/diversification). Review the SEC disclosures and press reports for details. Read More. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IONS. Wall Street Zen cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

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.