Teacher Retirement System of Texas Purchases 434,659 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 660.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 500,451 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 434,659 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas owned approximately 0.31% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $15,099,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock worth $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,948,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock worth $575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $20,801,000. Finally, Orbimed Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock worth $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

IONS stock traded down $0.44 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.34. The company had a trading volume of 1,752,883 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,610,185. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.83 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $35.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.20. The company has a quick ratio of 9.62, a current ratio of 9.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.63.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) 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 the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 63.65% and a negative return on equity of 91.85%. The firm's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.98) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.25.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

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.