Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $428,600.00 in Stock

Key Points

• Richard S. Geary, EVP of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, sold 10,000 shares at an average price of $42.86, totaling approximately $428,600, which decreased his ownership by 10.05%.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of $0.70 EPS, exceeding estimates by $0.51, and their revenue rose 100.9% year-over-year to $452 million.
• Multiple research analysts have upgraded their price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Barclays increasing its target to $57.00 and HC Wainwright setting a target of $65.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $428,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 89,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,835,627.12. This trade represents a 10.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $41.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,739,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,101. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -22.63 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $50.43. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during 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 company's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $59.38.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,301 shares of the company's stock valued at $465,000 after buying an additional 3,146 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 205,514 shares of the company's stock worth $7,185,000 after purchasing an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,692,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.