Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 16,693 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,143 shares during the period. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Peoples Bank KS acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $39,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 95.7% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,670 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 1,795 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $224,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,773 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total transaction of $560,196.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,690,832. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 2,125 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.54, for a total transaction of $105,272.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 92,905 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,513.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.00, for a total value of $560,196.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 32,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,690,832. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 42,699 shares of company stock worth $2,104,091. 2.65% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $41.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $6.10 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.34 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 5.90 and a quick ratio of 5.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.23. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.32 and a 1-year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.72. The business had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $176.01 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The company’s revenue was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.37) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.88 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.08.

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.