Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells $7,056,430.77 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,658,698.49. This represents a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

C Frank Bennett also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 30th, C Frank Bennett sold 5,885 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.95, for a total value of $488,160.75.
• On Friday, January 30th, C Frank Bennett sold 5,885 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.95, for a total value of $488,160.75.
• On Friday, January 16th, C Frank Bennett sold 8,977 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total value of $674,621.55.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $86.50 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $67.69. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.18 and a beta of 0.29.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Leerink Partners raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.95.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after buying an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,418,491 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,476,000 after acquiring an additional 25,367 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.