Brian Birchler Sells 12,425 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Key Points

• Brian Birchler, EVP of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 12,425 shares at an average price of $72.23, totaling approximately $897,457.75, which decreased his ownership in the company by 17.94%.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a 100.9% increase in quarterly revenue to $452 million, significantly beating analysts' expectations of $270.90 million.
• The company's stock has received various ratings from analysts, with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.50.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Brian Birchler sold 12,425 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.23, for a total value of $897,457.75. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 56,826 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,541.98. This represents a 17.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Brian Birchler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, October 14th, Brian Birchler sold 11,475 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.03, for a total value of $826,544.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.68 during trading on Thursday, reaching $73.07. 1,739,508 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,206,730. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $74.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.36 and a 200-day moving average of $42.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.71 and a beta of 0.33.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $78.50.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock worth $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $57,727,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $19,755,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.

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