Proficio Capital Partners LLC Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,703 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $829,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% in the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Commerce Bank lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 77,553 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,211 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% in the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were acquired at an average price of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $32.91 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.62 and a 200-day moving average of $36.26.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.56.

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.