Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by LPL Financial LLC

LPL Financial LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 5.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,376 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,244 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company’s stock valued at $384,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $28.40 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $52.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.34 and a beta of 0.29. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.31.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.72.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total value of $429,702.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at $7,123,618.70. This trade represents a 5.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 1,523 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total value of $49,406.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 110,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,584,620. This trade represents a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 63,167 shares of company stock valued at $2,010,458. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.