Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price Down 4.6% – Here’s What Happened

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)’s stock price fell 4.6% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $28.70 and last traded at $28.79. 337,449 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 77% from the average session volume of 1,446,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.17.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 7.5 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.63. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.18 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. Research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock valued at $575,880,000 after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Orbimed Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,494,000 after buying an additional 492,900 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $59,948,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by 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.