Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Has $8.83 Million Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership cut its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 88.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,635 shares of the company's stock after selling 1,987,820 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned about 0.16% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,832,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.98 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $28.24. 451,225 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,636,718. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $32.40 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.52. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $27.00 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $4.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.29 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $58.37.

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.