Natixis Advisors LLC Sells 6,767 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Natixis Advisors LLC lessened its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,313 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,767 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the third quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 308,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,376,000 after purchasing an additional 34,097 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $31.72 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.23 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.92.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.