Nicholas Investment Partners LP Purchases Shares of 30,445 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Nicholas Investment Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 30,445 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,540,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IONS. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $34,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 95.7% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,670 shares of the company's stock worth $166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,795 shares during the period. Mitchell & Pahl Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Checchi Capital Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $214,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 10,393 shares of company stock worth $440,127 over the last three months. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wolfe Research upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $58.00 price objective for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, January 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.54.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4 %

IONS traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $38.27. 983,112 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,118,652. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.33 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $42.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $46.71. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $34.99 and a 12-month high of $54.44. The company has a current ratio of 7.37, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The company had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $131.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.87) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.87 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.