Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals saw heavy trading volume, with about 1.45 million shares changing hands, while the stock fell to $51.92 from a prior close of $53.39.
• Wall Street remains mostly constructive on the biotech name, even as several firms cut price targets; the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $95.90.
• The company recently posted stronger-than-expected quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates, but insiders have been selling shares and the stock still trades below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) saw an uptick in trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,453,317 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 38% from the previous session's volume of 2,348,545 shares.The stock last traded at $51.9190 and had previously closed at $53.39.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $95.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.80 billion, a PE ratio of -25.71 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The business's fifty day moving average price is $72.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $75.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total value of $839,466.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 21,759 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,722,877.62. This represents a 32.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth about $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.