Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Trading Down 4.6% – Here’s Why

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.47. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.44 and a beta of 0.28.

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

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.