Comerica Bank Sells 3,222 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Comerica Bank trimmed its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 30.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,393 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,222 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $258,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Huntington National Bank boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 671 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $107,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $33.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.04 and a beta of 0.15. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.20. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.98) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,027 shares of company stock valued at $62,863. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.