Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 57,900 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Richard Geary, the Executive Vice President of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 57,900 shares at an average price of $65.24, totaling approximately $3.78 million, resulting in a 42.09% decrease in his position.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a 100.9% increase in quarterly revenue year-over-year, totaling $452 million, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations.
• Several analysts have recently increased their price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Guggenheim raising it to $92, highlighting strong confidence in the company’s future performance.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Richard Geary sold 57,900 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.24, for a total transaction of $3,777,396.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 79,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,196,822.68. This trade represents a 42.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.38 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $65.80. The company had a trading volume of 2,222,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,947,074. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $66.25. The stock has a market cap of $10.49 billion, a PE ratio of -35.76 and a beta of 0.28. The business's 50-day moving average is $50.72 and its 200 day moving average is $39.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.45) earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 237,840 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,397,000 after acquiring an additional 707 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,296 shares of the company's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $221,000. Marex Group plc bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $3,294,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.0% during the second quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 46,501 shares of the company's stock worth $1,841,000 after purchasing an additional 2,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $75.00 price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $73.88.

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.

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