ARK Investment Management LLC Sells 359,009 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

ARK Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 25.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,025,260 shares of the company's stock after selling 359,009 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC owned about 0.65% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $35,843,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd 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. increased its position 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 valued at $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 16,508 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,807,000 after buying an additional 114,914 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,070,000 after buying an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note 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 for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock traded up $1.84 on Friday, reaching $33.19. The stock had a trading volume of 2,008,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,670,240. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm's 50-day moving average is $33.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $37.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.92 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.23 and a 12 month high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,816 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,914. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.