Arizona State Retirement System Sells 460 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Arizona State Retirement System lowered its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 40,687 shares of the company’s stock after selling 460 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,228,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 627 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $116,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 1,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total transaction of $48,418.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,505,686.80. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.13.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.76 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $37.30 and a 200 day moving average of $33.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a current ratio of 9.66.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 91.85% and a negative net margin of 63.65%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.98) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.