Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil Sells 10,148 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil sold 10,148 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.25, for a total value of $763,637.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 62,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,681,377.75. This represents a 14.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS traded down $0.63 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $74.16. The stock had a trading volume of 104,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,280,719. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $80.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $74.01. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.32 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Barclays began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. One equities research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

More Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell?side firms recently raised price targets and kept bullish ratings (Leerink, Needham, Morgan Stanley, Piper Sandler), supporting longer?term upside expectations for Ionis. MarketBeat IONS coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Large institutional buying: Capital World Investors and others materially increased holdings last quarter (Capital World Investors added >5.2M shares), signalling strong institutional conviction in the company’s pipeline and longer?term thesis. MarketBeat IONS coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Management presented at the Barclays 28th Annual Global Healthcare Conference; transcript is available — presentations can be a source of guidance/pipeline color but no headline corporate actions were reported in the transcript summary provided. Barclays conference transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling by the CEO: filings show Brett Monia sold 126,670 shares on Mar 9 (~$9.53M at ~$75.20) and 34,103 shares on Mar 10 (~$2.59M at ~$75.92). Combined, the CEO disposed of ~160,773 shares across the two days — a material reduction and a negative near?term sentiment signal. CEO SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: Additional executive selling: EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares (~$2.83M at ~$75.85) and EVP Patrick R. O’Neil sold 10,148 shares (~$763.6k at ~$75.25). Multiple senior execs trimming positions in the same window increases selling pressure and raises short?term caution for investors. EVP Kyle Jenne SEC filing

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.