Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $4,466,704.86 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Holly Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $74.12 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.89 and its 200-day moving average is $77.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of -35.81 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $36.45 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Citigroup initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.80.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.