Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Stake Lessened by Truist Financial Corp

Truist Financial Corp lessened its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 15.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,003 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,496 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,044,000 after buying an additional 9,965 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $630,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $765,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,838 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $613,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $38.49 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. 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 capitalization of $5.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.42 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.27.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.28.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,803 shares of company stock valued at $134,402. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.