Clearbridge Investments LLC Sells 2,305,921 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Clearbridge Investments LLC decreased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 51.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,160,270 shares of the company's stock after selling 2,305,921 shares during the quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC owned approximately 1.48% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $102,958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company's stock worth $233,573,000 after buying an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 952,762 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,409,000 after purchasing an additional 54,400 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 948,266 shares of the company's stock valued at $45,192,000 after purchasing an additional 36,369 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 571,763 shares of the company's stock worth $24,786,000 after purchasing an additional 62,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $18,068,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 4.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $1.57 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $37.81. The company had a trading volume of 2,300,974 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,330,776. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $35.95 and a one year high of $54.44. The company has a market capitalization of $5.52 billion, a PE ratio of -14.16 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 7.61, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.66.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.