Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 16,560 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 23.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,320 shares of the company's stock after selling 16,560 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,864,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth 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 during the last quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were bought at an average price of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,027 shares of company stock valued at $62,863 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on IONS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target 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, six have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of IONS traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $34.03. 811,293 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,553,943. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $30.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.17. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $5.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.19 and a beta of 0.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $144.31 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.98) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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.