Sunbelt Securities Inc. Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 1,014 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $44,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $214,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. Wolfe Research raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.66 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $40.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.85 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a current ratio of 7.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 49.49% and a negative return on equity of 107.64%. The business had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.87) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 9.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total value of $256,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $698,137.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

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.