Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider Sells 9,549 Shares

Key Points

• Eugene Schneider, Executive Vice President of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 9,549 shares for a total of $408,697.20, reducing his ownership to 51,507 shares, a 15.64% decrease in his position.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals beat analysts' expectations in its latest quarterly earnings report with an EPS of $0.70 and revenue of $452 million, representing a year-over-year increase of 100.9%.
• Analysts have given Ionis Pharmaceuticals a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a price target averaging $59.38, reflecting a positive outlook for the company's stock performance.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total transaction of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 51,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,499.60. This trade represents a 15.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.59 during trading on Friday, reaching $41.64. 1,739,246 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,003,101. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.95 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.46. The firm has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E 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 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $451,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on IONS. Barclays upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.38.

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.