Eversept Partners LP Trims Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Eversept Partners LP lessened its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 54.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 214,952 shares of the company's stock after selling 256,403 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises about 0.7% of Eversept Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Eversept Partners LP owned 0.14% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $7,515,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $56.72.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.13 during trading on Friday, hitting $29.70. 1,015,576 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,531,562. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $30.68 and its 200 day moving average is $33.87. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.77 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 1,523 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total transaction of $49,406.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 110,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,584,620. This represents a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total value of $429,702.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,123,618.70. The trade was a 5.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 63,167 shares of company stock valued at $2,010,458 over the last three months. 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.