Private Advisor Group LLC Decreases Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Private Advisor Group LLC lowered its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 15.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 34,531 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,142 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,021,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $59,948,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 50,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 1,160 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $48,418.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,505,686.80. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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 raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $42.24 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $38.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.82. The stock has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.13 and a beta of 0.23. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 9.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $144.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.98) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.