Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $513,042.37 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler sold 6,179 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $513,042.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 66,247 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,500,488.41. The trade was a 8.53% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 shares were sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total transaction of $636,932.80.
• On Thursday, November 6th, Brian Birchler sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.17, for a total transaction of $609,360.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $84.99 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.15. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.46 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market cap of $13.77 billion, a PE ratio of -50.29 and a beta of 0.29.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.