Driehaus Capital Management LLC Reduces Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Driehaus Capital Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 21.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 180,002 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,967 shares during the period. Driehaus Capital Management LLC owned about 0.11% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $6,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock worth $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,948,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company's stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 38,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,027 shares of company stock valued at $62,863. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.69. 346,017 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,561,654. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $30.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -10.75 and a beta of 0.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.98) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.