Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director B Lynne Parshall Sells 5,000 Shares

Key Points

• B Lynne Parshall, a director at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 5,000 shares at an average price of $41.93, reducing their ownership by 5.47%.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a 100.9% increase in revenue compared to the previous year, with earnings per share of $0.70 exceeding the consensus estimate by $0.51.
• Equities analysts have shown a positive outlook, with multiple upgrades in ratings and price targets, leading to an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total value of $209,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at $3,620,403.92. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.59 on Friday, hitting $41.64. The company had a trading volume of 1,739,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,101. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -22.63 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $50.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average of $34.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.45) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company's stock worth $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company's stock valued at $114,245,000 after acquiring an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BVF Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $57,727,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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