Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Cuts Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. cut its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 45.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 275,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 225,000 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned approximately 0.17% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $9,614,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $107,000. Finally, Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $205,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.78. 1,889,924 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,554,307. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $30.56 and a 200-day moving average price of $33.64. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.98) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on 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. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 47,035 shares of company stock valued at $1,487,181. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

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.