AtonRa Partners Lowers Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

AtonRa Partners lessened its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,396 shares of the company’s stock after selling 933 shares during the quarter. AtonRa Partners’ holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $425,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 92.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,760,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,862,000 after buying an additional 845,902 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,242,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,351,000 after purchasing an additional 43,087 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $48,399,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.5% during the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 898,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,772,000 after purchasing an additional 113,644 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.9% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 690,724 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,331,000 after buying an additional 19,646 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.08.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total value of $94,510.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,701,097.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 23,501 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.37, for a total value of $1,160,244.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 174,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,597,193.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total value of $94,510.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,324 shares in the company, valued at $1,701,097.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,699 shares of company stock valued at $2,104,091 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS traded up $0.40 during trading on Monday, hitting $41.99. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 709,859 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,124,300. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.17. The firm has a market cap of $6.12 billion, a PE ratio of -16.46 and a beta of 0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $34.32 and a one year high of $54.44. The company has a quick ratio of 5.83, a current ratio of 5.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The company had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.01 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.37) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.