Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Trims Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 71.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,039 shares of the company's stock after selling 37,649 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after acquiring an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $20,801,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares during the last quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 660.7% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 500,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,099,000 after acquiring an additional 434,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,067,000 after acquiring an additional 343,492 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

IONS stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.64. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,739,246 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,003,101. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a PE ratio of -22.63 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $50.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm's 50-day moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day moving average is $34.47.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.45) EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IONS. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.38.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $209,650.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 86,344 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,620,403.92. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 28,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,204,806 over the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.