Voloridge Investment Management LLC Sells 63,698 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 16.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 316,943 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,698 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,080,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its stake 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 buying an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,405,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This represents a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IONS. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.17 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $33.63. 389,651 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,710. The company has a market cap of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $30.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.98) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.