California State Teachers Retirement System Increases Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 133,902 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,722 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,762,000. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $20,801,000. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,349,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,168,000 after purchasing an additional 16,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 921,439 shares of the company's stock worth $32,214,000 after purchasing an additional 2,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $56.67.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Friday, hitting $35.29. The company had a trading volume of 1,197,338 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,573,070. The firm has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a PE ratio of -11.61 and a beta of 0.18. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.87. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share 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.