Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Trading Down 4.4% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares fell 4.4% to about $58.63, with trading volume roughly 43% below the average session volume.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $94.15, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• The company exceeded quarterly EPS and revenue estimates, but revenue declined 40.7% year over year and profitability remained weak; insiders have also sold more than $17.7 million of stock over the past three months.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) was down 4.4% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $58.11 and last traded at $58.6250. Approximately 1,365,232 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 2,400,945 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.33.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced 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. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.8%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. The company has a market cap of $9.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.68 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $62.12 and a 200 day moving average price of $70.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The firm had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at $6,250,089.70. The trade was a 25.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 225,163 shares of company stock worth $17,711,191. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8,029.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 14,347,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,137,609,000 after buying an additional 14,170,961 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company's stock valued at $104,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $141,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,727,000 after acquiring an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. 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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