Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $15,731.20 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Richard S. Geary sold 320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.16, for a total value of $15,731.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,154 shares in the company, valued at $4,186,170.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded down $0.37 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $47.31. 1,495,203 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,195,945. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.93. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $35.95 and a one year high of $54.44. The company has a market cap of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.72 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.68.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Truist Financial Corp acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $504,000. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 65,831 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,331,000 after purchasing an additional 1,144 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 80.1% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 27,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,406,000 after purchasing an additional 12,357 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Natixis Advisors L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Natixis Advisors L.P. now owns 17,313 shares of the company’s stock worth $875,000 after buying an additional 1,394 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.