DAVENPORT & Co LLC Sells 6,347 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 10.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,393 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,347 shares during the quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Xponance Inc. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during 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 last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company's stock worth $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC now owns 12,476 shares of the company's stock worth $436,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 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 acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $1.49 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $42.83. 1,686,229 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,612,818. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a current ratio of 9.66. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $6.82 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.32 and a beta of 0.23. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $35.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.27.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 91.85% and a negative net margin of 63.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.98) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current 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.