Eric Swayze Sells 6,179 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eric Swayze sold 6,179 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $512,424.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 47,747 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,959,658.71. The trade was a 11.46% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

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

• On Friday, January 16th, Eric Swayze sold 49 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.97, for a total value of $3,722.53.
• On Friday, January 16th, Eric Swayze sold 9,884 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.34, for a total value of $744,660.56.
• On Friday, January 2nd, Eric Swayze sold 23,463 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.12, for a total value of $1,856,392.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $83.07. The company had a trading volume of 1,788,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,332,586. 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 company has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.15 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $66.84. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 6th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. One equities research 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 MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.