Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Reduces Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Pinnacle Associates Ltd. cut its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 19,783 shares and ending with 461,968 shares valued at about $36.5 million.
• Ionis reported quarterly results that beat expectations, posting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.56 per share on revenue of $246 million, which was up 86.4% year over year.
• Despite the earnings beat, insider selling has been notable, including recent share sales by the CEO and an EVP, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” with a $99.35 target price.

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. reduced its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 4.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 461,968 shares of the company's stock after selling 19,783 shares during the period. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. owned approximately 0.29% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $36,546,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company's stock valued at $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $77.60 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $32.00 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.53. The stock has a market cap of $12.82 billion, a PE ratio of -37.49 and a beta of 0.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.93) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $9,525,584.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at $18,248,182.40. This trade represents a 34.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 632,013 shares of company stock worth $47,685,342 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company's proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis' pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding IONS? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.