Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CFO Sells 8,870 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,539,706.85. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.85 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.43. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,371,506 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,525,691. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $35.63 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.17. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $31.40 and a 12-month high of $52.49. The company has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $15,728,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,287.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 328,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,171,000 after buying an additional 319,065 shares in the last quarter. Logos Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $14,298,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,952,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.