Rafferty Asset Management LLC Boosts Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Rafferty Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 19.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 237,337 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 38,578 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.15% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,297,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup cut their price objective 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. 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. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.3%

NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $32.82. 347,062 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,652,281. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.80 and a beta of 0.15. The business's 50 day moving average is $30.59 and its 200-day moving average is $33.11. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The firm had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.98) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 2.60% 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.