Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O'neil Sells 21,000 Shares

Key Points

• Patrick O'neil, EVP of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 21,000 shares at an average price of $64.56, totaling approximately $1.36 million, reducing his ownership stake by 26.88%.
• Ions Pharmaceuticals stock recently traded at $64.04, reflecting a 0.1% increase, with a market cap of $10.21 billion.
• The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $0.19, and its revenue doubled year-over-year to $452 million.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Patrick O'neil sold 21,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.56, for a total transaction of $1,355,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,130 shares in the company, valued at $3,688,312.80. This trade represents a 26.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

IONS traded up $0.04 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.04. 1,810,489 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,942,776. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.80 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $64.71. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $44.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.98. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.88.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after acquiring an additional 28,247 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% in the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 148,690 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,486,000 after acquiring an additional 43,071 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $3,523,000. Finally, Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $3,747,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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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