Shannon Devers Sells 6,193 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers sold 6,193 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,569.40. This trade represents a 27.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $74.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.40. The company’s fifty day moving average is $78.45 and its 200-day moving average is $76.02. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.66) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Bank of America increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $92.84.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.