Patrick O’neil Sells 64,664 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil sold 64,664 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.69, for a total value of $4,377,106.16. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,130 shares in the company, valued at $3,867,129.70. The trade was a 53.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $69.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $52.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.63. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $69.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -37.58 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 237,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,397,000 after purchasing an additional 707 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 123.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 5,296 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after purchasing an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Orion Porfolio Solutions LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $221,000. Finally, Marex Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,294,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Guggenheim increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $73.88.

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.