107,610 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Acquired by Woodline Partners LP

Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 107,610 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,762,000. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.07% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $59,948,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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 on the stock. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.5%

IONS traded up $0.17 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $33.63. 389,651 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,560,710. 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 one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 0.15. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $30.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.91.

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