Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Trims Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 53.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,407 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,734 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $8,952,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $5,617,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in 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 valued at $57,807,000 after buying an additional 114,914 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $32.60 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $30.23 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The stock has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a PE ratio of -10.72 and a beta of 0.34. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $33.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.71.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were bought at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,816 shares of company stock worth $3,603,914 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus 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.