BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Makes New $916,000 Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 26,200 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $916,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $829,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were 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 directly owns 180,683 shares of the company's stock, 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 90 days, insiders have sold 47,035 shares of company stock worth $1,487,181. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $32.78. 1,889,924 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,554,307. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $30.56 and a 200-day moving average of $33.64. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The stock has a market cap of $5.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.31 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 up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.98) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.