Alyeska Investment Group L.P. Has $5.24 Million Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lowered its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 11.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 150,000 shares of the company's stock after selling 18,951 shares during the quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. owned about 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $5,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock worth $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company's stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company's stock valued at $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $829,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 now owns 50,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,027 shares of company stock valued at $62,863 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.5 %

IONS stock traded down $0.49 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.26. The company had a trading volume of 946,934 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,566,820. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $5.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.61 and a beta of 0.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $144.31 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.98) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.67.

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.