Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,826 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price 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, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.37.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the company’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 transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.3 %

IONS opened at $28.71 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $27.00 and a twelve month 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $32.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $35.47. The firm has a market cap of $4.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.44 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted 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 business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

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.