Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund 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 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,786.5% during 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 last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after acquiring an additional 1,101 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $829,000. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Redburn Atlantic began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.25.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded down $1.22 on Monday, reaching $41.78. The stock had a trading volume of 2,239,880 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,607,462. The stock has a market cap of $6.65 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.97 and a beta of 0.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63, a quick ratio of 9.62 and a current ratio of 9.66. The business's 50-day moving average price is $35.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $33.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $52.34.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.98) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.