Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 10,172 Shares of Stock

Key Points

  • EVP Elizabeth Hougen sold 215,048 shares on March 16 at an average price of $72.40 for about $15.57 million, cutting her ownership by 69.85% to 92,832 shares (≈$6.72M).
  • Ionis reported Q results showing EPS of ($1.41) that missed estimates (consensus $‑1.23) while revenue of $203.33 million topped expectations, but the company still has negative margins and declining quarterly revenue.
  • Institutional investors own about 93.86% of the stock with several firms materially increasing positions, and analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with a $89 price target.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) EVP Elizabeth Hougen sold 10,172 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.21, for a total value of $744,692.12. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 82,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,538.60. The trade was a 10.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.9%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $71.67 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $79.97 and a 200 day moving average of $75.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.37 and a beta of 0.31. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The firm had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals




A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IONS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on IONS

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

(Get Free Report)

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.

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