Michael Hayden Buys 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Michael Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $53.38 per share, for a total transaction of $800,700.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS traded down $1.51 on Friday, reaching $51.77. The stock had a trading volume of 2,564,124 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,436,866. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.03 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $70.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $74.73. The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 106.23%. The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares in the last quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $1,377,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the 4th 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. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. 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. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.85.

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.