Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Sells $429,702.90 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total transaction of $429,702.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at $7,123,618.70. This trade represents a 5.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.8 %

IONS opened at $33.17 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a PE ratio of -13.59 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.91 and a quick ratio of 8.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $31.03 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company’s 50-day moving average is $34.94 and its 200 day moving average is $39.84.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONS. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.65.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $51,000. Hedge funds and other 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.