California Public Employees Retirement System Cuts Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

California Public Employees Retirement System lessened its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 68.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 209,436 shares of the company's stock after selling 445,935 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.15% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $10,595,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,011 shares of the company's stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 3,200 shares in the last quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company's stock worth $1,675,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. abrdn plc purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $6,901,000. HealthInvest Partners AB purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,226,000. Finally, Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $1,253,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total value of $94,510.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 34,324 shares in the company, valued at $1,701,097.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 31,926 shares of company stock valued at $1,543,895 in the last three months. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 1st. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 24th. Finally, Oppenheimer lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.08.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS traded up $0.08 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $43.09. The stock had a trading volume of 666,227 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,114,925. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.90 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a current ratio of 5.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.06. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.32 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.78) by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $176.01 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 113.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.37) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.7 EPS 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.