Joseph Klein III Sells 6,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.2 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $1.35 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $40.93. 1,211,831 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,116,861. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $34.79 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of -15.99 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $46.96.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 46.32% and a negative return on equity of 90.29%. The business had revenue of $325.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.37) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,275,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,518,000 after purchasing an additional 33,012 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $59,288,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,399,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,407,000 after buying an additional 58,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.