Commerce Bank Sells 63,969 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Commerce Bank lessened its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 82.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,584 shares of the company's stock after selling 63,969 shares during the period. Commerce Bank's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $475,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after buying an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $829,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total transaction of $429,702.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at $7,123,618.70. The trade was a 5.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 1,523 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.44, for a total transaction of $49,406.12. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 110,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,584,620. The trade was a 1.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 63,167 shares of company stock worth $2,010,458. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $29.10 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.04. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm has a market cap of $4.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.57 and a beta of 0.29.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target 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. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $56.72.

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.

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