Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler Sells 6,179 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler sold 6,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $513,042.37. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 66,247 shares in the company, valued at $5,500,488.41. This represents a 8.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Brian Birchler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 16th, Brian Birchler sold 8,480 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total value of $636,932.80.
• On Thursday, November 6th, Brian Birchler sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.17, for a total transaction of $609,360.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.40 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $83.07. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,788,929 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,332,586. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.15 and a beta of 0.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $215,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,790,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after buying an additional 343,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 294,643 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Barclays started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price target for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

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.