Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Position Trimmed by California Public Employees Retirement System

California Public Employees Retirement System decreased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 192,130 shares of the company’s stock after selling 19,626 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,717,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $59,948,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 38,420 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 36,084 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $27.57 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.13. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.52 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.07 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 24th. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.70.

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.