Raymond James Financial Inc. Purchases New Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 105,619 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,692,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.07% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on IONS shares. Guggenheim decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup decreased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of IONS traded up $1.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $32.77. 418,458 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,544,295. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.71. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.21 billion, a PE ratio of -10.78 and a beta of 0.29. 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 (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $132.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.98) earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 47,035 shares of company stock valued at $1,487,181 in the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.