C Frank Bennett Sells 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Key Points

• EVP C. Frank Bennett sold 15,000 Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares at an average price of $85.46, totaling about $1.28 million. The sale, made under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, reduced his holdings by 16.66%.
• IONS stock dropped sharply, falling 23.9% to $64.27 amid extremely heavy trading volume. The decline came after negative clinical news, including a late-stage trial miss for eplontersen/Wainua in ATTR-CM.
• Despite the selloff, analysts remain generally constructive on Ionis, with multiple Buy/Outperform ratings and an average price target of $100.80. However, Needham recently trimmed its target to $86 from $105, reflecting a more cautious near-term outlook.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,038.28. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

C Frank Bennett also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, July 7th, C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total value of $462,698.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 23.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded down $20.19 on Thursday, hitting $64.27. 20,428,096 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,012,255. The firm's 50-day moving average is $76.12 and its 200 day moving average is $77.41. The company has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of -31.05 and a beta of 0.36. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.93) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and AstraZeneca said the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial for eplontersen in ATTR-CM did not meet its primary endpoint, a key clinical and commercial setback for the program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that AstraZeneca-Ionis’ Wainua failed to meet the main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurring heart problems in the late-stage study, reinforcing concerns about the franchise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares saw unusually large put-buying, suggesting some traders are positioning for further downside after the trial disappointment.
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders disclosed stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, including Director Allene M. Diaz and EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz, which may add to near-term investor caution.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham lowered its price target to $86 from $105 but reiterated a Buy rating, indicating continued optimism despite the reduced valuation outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage notes that investors are debating whether the selloff creates a buying opportunity, but this is sentiment-driven rather than a fundamental catalyst. Article Title

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during 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. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its holdings 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 increased its holdings 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, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $41,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.80.

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.

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