Blair William & Co. IL Sells 2,576 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Blair William & Co. IL lowered its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 9.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,262 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,576 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,353 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $59,288,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $18,068,000. Zimmer Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $11,718,000. Finally, Superstring Capital Management LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,593,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371 in the last three months. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Leerink Partners upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.68.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.00 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The company’s 50-day moving average is $46.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.77. The company has a current ratio of 7.61, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of -15.36 and a beta of 0.39.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.