Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider Sells 26,000 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total transaction of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.37. 2,039,250 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,081,201. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.72 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a PE ratio of -38.34 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Citigroup started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

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.