Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Trading Down 4.4% – Here’s Why

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)’s share price fell 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $58.11 and last traded at $58.6250. 1,365,232 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 2,400,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.33.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on IONS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $62.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $70.80. The firm has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.68 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The business’s revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $51.60 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 24,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,400. The trade was a 26.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 225,163 shares of company stock valued at $17,711,191 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.