Vanguard Group Inc. Has $494.30 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Vanguard Group Inc. cut its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,383,934 shares of the company’s stock after selling 88,605 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned 10.29% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $494,303,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 31.0% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 13,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after acquiring an additional 3,146 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 205,514 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,185,000 after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $3,692,000. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 27,661 shares of the company’s stock worth $967,000 after purchasing an additional 4,534 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $42.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.29 and a beta of 0.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $40.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.68. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $50.43.

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

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total value of $209,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 86,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. The trade was a 5.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,141 shares of company stock worth $1,204,806. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price 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. upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

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.