Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 48.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,520 shares of the company’s stock after selling 57,080 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,867,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Dynasty Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $938,000. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $10,650,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 10,172 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.21, for a total value of $744,692.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 82,660 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,051,538.60. The trade was a 10.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 974,413 shares of company stock worth $75,333,995. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $76.76 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $77.39 and its 200-day moving average is $76.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.46 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $27.57 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.66) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.