Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Short Interest Update

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,120,000 shares, an increase of 18.4% from the January 15th total of 10,240,000 shares. Currently, 7.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 7.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $40,000. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $31.04 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.72 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $34.22 and a 200-day moving average of $38.81.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IONS. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.65.

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.