Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Has $18.36 Million Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 11.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 608,517 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 60,875 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned about 0.38% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $18,359,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 1,160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $48,418.40. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 179,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,505,686.80. This trade represents a 0.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was acquired 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 of the company's stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $55.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS traded up $0.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.24. 887,852 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,810,999. The company has a market cap of $6.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.13 and a beta of 0.23. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 9.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. The firm's fifty day moving average is $38.20 and its 200 day moving average is $33.82.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The company 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.