Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Envestnet Asset Management Inc.

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. reduced its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 71.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,039 shares of the company’s stock after selling 37,649 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $62,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $151,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $109,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at $8,091,900. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 23,141 shares of company stock valued at $995,156. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $40.69 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $50.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The company has a market cap of $6.49 billion, a PE ratio of -22.11 and a beta of 0.25. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.33.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.45) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their target price for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

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.