Vanguard Group Inc. Buys 1,416,781 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 9.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $575,880,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,000 after acquiring an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm’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 owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $30.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.92 and a beta of 0.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $32.50 and a 200-day moving average of $35.63. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $29.61 and a 1 year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.37.

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.