Short Interest in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Rises By 18.4%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 12,120,000 shares, a growth of 18.4% from the January 15th total of 10,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.9 days. Approximately 7.9% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $31.04 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.72 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.81.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,885 shares in the company, valued at $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867 over the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $297,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 28,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,137,000 after buying an additional 1,522 shares during the last quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the third quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $668,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,287.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 328,772 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,171,000 after buying an additional 319,065 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.