Geode Capital Management LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,687,248 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned approximately 1.70% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $93,976,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% in 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. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $673,000. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 11.1% in the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 10,994 shares of the company's stock worth $384,000 after purchasing an additional 1,101 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $56.72.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the company'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,718,616.95. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.40 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.28. The company's stock had a trading volume of 522,012 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,510,011. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $31.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.50 billion, a PE ratio of -9.30 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for 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 company's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.