Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Hits New 1-Year Low on Insider Selling

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $35.37 and last traded at $35.51, with a volume of 248925 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $37.23.

Specifically, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $252,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. The trade was a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. BMO Capital Markets downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Leerink Partners raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of -14.07 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $42.75.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $613,000. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% in the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 7,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,453 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 10,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $443,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 155,145 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,726,000 after purchasing an additional 4,090 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% during the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,838 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.