Private Advisor Group LLC Cuts Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Private Advisor Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 7.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 40,673 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,114 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,384,269 shares of the company’s stock valued at $55,454,000 after acquiring an additional 23,244 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,376,000 after acquiring an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after acquiring an additional 36,084 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 111,816 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,914. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.98. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.23 and a 12 month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

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.