Clearbridge Investments LLC Trims Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 4.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,618,220 shares of the company's stock after selling 84,173 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned about 1.02% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $56,573,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $59,948,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $223,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock valued at $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $205,000. Finally, Harbor Advisors LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 90.9% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC now owns 10,500 shares of the company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total value of $291,024.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.0 %

IONS traded down $1.43 during trading on Friday, hitting $27.09. The stock had a trading volume of 2,292,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,437. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.29. 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 twelve month low of $26.88 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.28.

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 business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped 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. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.37.

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.