Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Richard S. Geary Sells 2,430 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $47.51 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The stock has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a PE ratio of -17.79 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50 day moving average is $45.55 and its 200-day moving average is $44.33. The company has a current ratio of 7.37, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 109.65% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.9 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Turn Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $18,044,000. HealthInvest Partners AB bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,226,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,965 shares during the period. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $3,158,000. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $630,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

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.