Elizabeth Hougen Sells 215,048 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Elizabeth Hougen sold 215,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $15,569,475.20. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 92,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,721,036.80. This represents a 69.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $71.32 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a 50 day moving average of $79.77 and a 200-day moving average of $75.02. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a market cap of $11.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.23 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $938,000. 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.