Michael R. Hayden Acquires 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $32.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 0.29. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.64. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.98) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. Finally, CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.67.

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.