Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Has $12.98 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 371,381 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,493 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC owned 0.24% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $12,983,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock worth $575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock worth $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $59,948,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company's stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 38,420 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 1st. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $31.86 per share, for a total transaction of $477,900.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. The trade was a 42.59 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,027 shares of company stock worth $62,863 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.03. The company's stock had a trading volume of 454,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,552,032. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. 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 business's 50-day moving average price is $30.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.56. The firm has a market cap of $5.25 billion, a PE ratio of -10.91 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.07) by $0.14. The business 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.98) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.