Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen Sells 8,870 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total value of $291,024.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,539,706.85. The trade was a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.43 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $35.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.17. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $31.40 and a 52-week high of $52.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the period. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the third quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock valued at $817,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.