Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen Sells 8,000 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,465,395.37. This represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded down $0.87 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $73.09. The stock had a trading volume of 1,801,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,053,600. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.84 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.31 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $74.92 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

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.