C Frank Bennett Sells 85,089 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. This represents a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

C Frank Bennett also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 30th, C Frank Bennett sold 5,885 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.95, for a total transaction of $488,160.75.
• On Friday, January 30th, C Frank Bennett sold 5,885 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.95, for a total transaction of $488,160.75.
• On Friday, January 16th, C Frank Bennett sold 8,977 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $674,621.55.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $83.48 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $13.52 billion, a PE ratio of -49.40 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $80.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.74.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position 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 valued at $114,245,000 after buying an additional 48,141 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,418,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,476,000 after buying an additional 25,367 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on 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, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

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.