Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) shareholders (or potential shareholders) will be happy to see that the Independent Director, Michael Hayden, recently bought a whopping US$1.1m worth of stock, at a price of US$52.94. Not only is that a big swing, but it increased their holding size by 34%, which is definitely great to see.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Insider Transactions Over The Last Year

The Founder, Brett Monia, made the biggest insider sale in the last 12 months. That single transaction was for US$5.2m worth of shares at a price of US$82.72 each. While we don't usually like to see insider selling, it's more concerning if the sales take place at a lower price. The silver lining is that this sell-down took place above the latest price (US$54.49). So it may not tell us anything about how insiders feel about the current share price.

Over the last year we saw more insider selling of Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares, than buying. You can see the insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year depicted in the chart below. If you click on the chart, you can see all the individual transactions, including the share price, individual, and the date!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Does Ionis Pharmaceuticals Boast High Insider Ownership?

Looking at the total insider shareholdings in a company can help to inform your view of whether they are well aligned with common shareholders. A high insider ownership often makes company leadership more mindful of shareholder interests. It appears that Ionis Pharmaceuticals insiders own 0.8% of the company, worth about US$69m. While this is a strong but not outstanding level of insider ownership, it's enough to indicate some alignment between management and smaller shareholders.

What Might The Insider Transactions At Ionis Pharmaceuticals Tell Us?

It's certainly positive to see the recent insider purchase. But we can't say the same for the transactions over the last 12 months. We don't take much heart from transactions by Ionis Pharmaceuticals insiders over the last year. But they own a reasonable amount of the company, and there was some buying recently. Overall they seem reasonably aligned. Of course, the future is what matters most.

Of course, you might find a fantastic investment by looking elsewhere. So take a peek at this free list of interesting companies.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.