Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 14,224 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 142,433 shares of the company's stock after selling 14,224 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,297,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Moisand Fitzgerald Tamayo LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $151,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 28,993 shares of the company's stock worth $961,000 after purchasing an additional 28,247 shares during the period. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 133,902 shares of the company's stock worth $4,681,000 after purchasing an additional 7,722 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded down $0.61 on Friday, reaching $42.98. 1,335,953 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,604,922. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.37 and a beta of 0.23. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $35.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.10.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 63.65% and a negative return on equity of 91.85%. The company had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.98) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of research reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Barclays upgraded shares of 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.25.

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.