Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Sells $5,208,878.40 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett Monia sold 62,970 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total transaction of $5,208,878.40. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 283,927 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,486,441.44. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of IONS opened at $84.99 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.15. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.29 and a beta of 0.29. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $80.46 and its two-hundred day moving average is $67.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,321,000 after buying an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after acquiring an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,245,000 after acquiring an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,418,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,476,000 after purchasing an additional 25,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

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.