Patrick O’neil Sells 6,179 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil sold 6,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.53, for a total value of $516,131.87. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 71,983 shares in the company, valued at $6,012,739.99. The trade was a 7.91% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.40 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $83.07. 1,788,929 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,332,586. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $86.15. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $66.84. The stock has a market capitalization of $13.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.15 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on IONS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. 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 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. HC Wainwright lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

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.