Shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS) traded at a new 52-week high today of $17.60. Approximately 341,000 shares have changed hands today, as compared to an average 30-day volume of 1.5 million shares.

Isis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:ISIS) defies analysts with a current price ($17.60) 22.3% above its average consensus price target of $13.67. The stock should find initial support at its 50-day moving average (MA) of $13.38 and further support at its 200-day MA of $11.98.

Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. discovers and develops novel human therapeutic compounds. The company currently has various compounds in clinical trials for a variety of diseases such as Crohn's disease, psoriasis, asthma, and cancer. Isis' broad medical chemistry and biology research programs support efforts in both antisense and small molecule drug delivery.

Isis Pharmaceuticals share prices have moved between a 52-week high of $17.60 and a 52-week low of $6.25 and are now trading 182% above that low price at $17.60 per share. Over the last five market days, the 200-day moving average (MA) has gone up 0.9% while the 50-day MA has advanced 2.9%.

SmarTrend recommended that subscribers consider buying shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals on December 11th, 2012 as our proprietary SmarTrend analytics indicated a new Uptrend was in progress when shares hit $9.56. Since that recommendation, shares of Isis Pharmaceuticals have risen 79.5%. We continue to monitor ISIS for any potential shift so investors can protect gains and will alert SmarTrend subscribers immediately.