Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Down 4.6% - Time to Sell?

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on IONS. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.37.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after purchasing an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,376,000 after buying an additional 45,300 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $673,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $807,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.