Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 10,740,000 shares, an increase of 8.8% from the October 15th total of 9,870,000 shares. Approximately 7.4% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.0 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $33.73 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.82 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $33.63 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 8,197 shares of company stock valued at $315,310. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 56,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 36,084 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $807,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.