Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen Sells 8,000 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Spencer Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the sale, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,465,395.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $73.09 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.84 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.08 billion, a PE ratio of -35.31 and a beta of 0.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $74.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $77.65. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 318.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 103,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,745,000 after purchasing an additional 78,470 shares in the last quarter. Carmignac Gestion acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $3,980,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $37,845,000. Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 824,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,915,000 after purchasing an additional 57,651 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stempoint Capital LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $1,981,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IONS. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

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.