Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider Sells 5,812 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,273.30. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Eugene Schneider also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 30th, Eugene Schneider sold 6,179 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.45, for a total transaction of $515,637.55.
• On Friday, January 16th, Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $70.79 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.01 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $79.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $75.53.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen 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 data from 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

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased 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 acquiring an additional 343,409 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted 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 valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Finally, Dynasty Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $938,000. 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.