Candriam S.C.A. Buys 36,369 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 948,266 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,369 shares during the quarter. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.65% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $45,192,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of IONS. First Turn Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $18,044,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after acquiring an additional 9,965 shares during the period. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $630,000. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,407,000 after purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $765,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.6 %

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $46.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61. The firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.56 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.95 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $47.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

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.