Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $59,083.78 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Shannon Devers sold 1,357 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.54, for a total value of $59,083.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,490.94. This represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $44.27 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.08 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.79 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $51.06 and its 200 day moving average is $63.55.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 199.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,417,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,427,000 after purchasing an additional 944,766 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $62,718,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $54,253,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $48,690,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $43,011,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on IONS. Raymond James Financial set a $79.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $104.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing medicines using antisense technology. Its platform is designed to selectively target RNA and regulate the production of disease-related proteins. The company develops therapies for neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic, and rare diseases.

Ionis has developed and commercialized medicines both independently and through collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. Its marketed or partnered products include Spinraza (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, Tegsedi (inotersen) and Wainua (eplontersen) for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, and Tryngolza (olezarsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome.