Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Has $495,000 Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 229.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,157 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,856 shares during the quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock valued at $400,831,000 after buying an additional 3,637,041 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,948,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock worth $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,617,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake 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 buying an additional 128,619 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONS. 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 report on Thursday. Redburn Atlantic assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.67.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 1st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $31.86 per share, with a total value of $477,900.00. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 50,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,599,977.34. This trade represents a 42.59 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 47,035 shares of company stock worth $1,487,181 in the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded up $0.64 on Monday, hitting $33.42. 279,262 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,549,380. The stock has a market cap of $5.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.98 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $30.56 and a 200-day moving average of $33.61.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The company reported ($0.93) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.07) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $132.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $144.31 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm's revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.98) earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS 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.