Millennium Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 79.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 774,215 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 343,492 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.49% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $27,067,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $330,000 after purchasing an additional 1,625 shares during the period. J. Goldman & Co LP increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. J. Goldman & Co LP now owns 607,499 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,238,000 after purchasing an additional 88,883 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,233,000 after purchasing an additional 4,900 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% in the fourth quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 821,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,709,000 after purchasing an additional 54,300 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,859 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock traded down $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.98. 963,527 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,550,891. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.59 and a 200-day simple moving average of $32.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.85 and a beta of 0.15.

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 the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 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) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Citigroup decreased 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.67.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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. This trade represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.