Shannon Devers Sells 44,199 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers sold 44,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.5%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $80.30 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.15. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $78.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $62.35. The stock has a market cap of $13.01 billion, a PE ratio of -47.51 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. The company had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after acquiring an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after purchasing an additional 48,141 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.05.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.