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

Key Points

• Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.1%, owning approximately 0.09% of the company, valued at around $4.3 million.
• Several large investors increased their holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Pinnacle Associates Ltd. boosting its stake by 11.1% and Signaturefd LLC increasing theirs by 45.6% during the first quarter.
• Analysts have mixed views on Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Needham & Company lowering its price target from $60 to $55, while JP Morgan raised it to $48, indicating a "neutral" rating for the stock.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 142,433 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,224 shares during the quarter. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company's stock valued at $961,000 after buying an additional 28,247 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,692,000. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,450 shares of the company's stock worth $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 50,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 1,160 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $48,418.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,505,686.80. The trade was a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.0%

Shares of IONS stock traded up $2.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.54. The company had a trading volume of 1,967,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,702,040. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $51.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a current ratio of 9.66 and a quick ratio of 9.62. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.34 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.88. The company has a market cap of $6.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.62 and a beta of 0.23.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 91.85% and a negative net margin of 63.65%. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.45) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.