Private Advisor Group LLC Sells 6,142 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Key Points

• Private Advisor Group LLC has reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. by 15.1%, now holding 34,531 shares valued at approximately $1,042,000.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals received mixed responses from analysts, with JPMorgan raising its target price to $48.00 while Needham lowered theirs to $55.00, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."
• Insider activity included Director Michael R. Hayden purchasing 15,000 shares and CEO Brett P. Monia selling 1,160 shares, reflecting varied confidence from company leadership.

Private Advisor Group LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,531 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,142 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $57.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.14. The stock had a trading volume of 733,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,709,778. The company has a current ratio of 9.66, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $51.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.43 and a beta of 0.23. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 63.65% and a negative return on equity of 91.85%. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 1,160 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.74, for a total value of $48,418.40. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.