Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 12,972 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Eric Swayze, Executive Vice President of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 12,972 shares at an average price of $66.23, representing a 25.80% decrease in his ownership stake.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a revenue of $452 million for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $270.9 million and marking a 100.9% increase year over year.
• Brokerages have shown positive outlooks for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with several raising their price targets, including Royal Bank Of Canada increasing its target from $70 to $80 and Citigroup from $69 to $84.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Eric Swayze sold 12,972 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.23, for a total value of $859,135.56. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 37,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,470,511.46. The trade was a 25.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Eric Swayze also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, October 1st, Eric Swayze sold 14,142 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.09, for a total value of $934,644.78.
• On Tuesday, September 2nd, Eric Swayze sold 11,130 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.67, for a total value of $552,827.10.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.0%

Shares of IONS traded up $2.60 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $68.40. 2,999,327 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,312,510. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $51.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.33. The company has a market cap of $10.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.17 and a beta of 0.33. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $68.41. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $73.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the 1st quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock worth $488,016,000 after buying an additional 2,006,334 shares during the period. BVF Inc. IL bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $57,727,000. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $19,755,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $17,790,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.