Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 973 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Ionis EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares on April 16 at an average price of $75.04 for about $73,014 to cover tax withholding on vested equity, trimming his position by 1.42% to 67,500 shares.
• Ionis reported Q4 EPS of ($1.41), missing estimates while revenue of $203.3M beat expectations but was down 10.6% year-over-year; the stock trades near $75.71 and the company has a market cap of roughly $12.5 billion.
• Analysts are broadly positive with 17 Buys, 2 Holds and 1 Sell and an average price target of $94.37, with several firms recently raising their targets (e.g., Morgan Stanley, HC Wainwright, Wells Fargo).

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $73,013.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,065,200. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

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

• On Friday, January 30th, Brian Birchler sold 6,179 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total transaction of $513,042.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.45 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $75.71. 1,719,444 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,808,068. The company has a market capitalization of $12.51 billion, a PE ratio of -31.03 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $27.90 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $76.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $156.07 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.66) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $94.37.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares during the last quarter. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $938,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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