Van ECK Associates Corp Has $2.15 Million Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 61,619 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,613 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,154,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,807,000 after buying an additional 114,914 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC now owns 1,384,269 shares of the company’s stock worth $55,454,000 after purchasing an additional 23,244 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,376,000 after buying an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $32.69 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of -13.40 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $33.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.46.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.58% and a negative return on equity of 88.98%. The firm’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.47 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.