Millennium Management LLC Has $6.11 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Millennium Management LLC lessened its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 78.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 128,215 shares of the company's stock after selling 454,964 shares during the quarter. Millennium Management LLC owned 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $6,111,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $18,068,000. Parkwood LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,492,000. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.5% in the 4th quarter. Parkman Healthcare Partners LLC now owns 211,400 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,695,000 after acquiring an additional 51,897 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company's stock worth $233,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $289,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS traded up $0.49 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $38.44. 1,264,921 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,332,078. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $44.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.46. The company has a market cap of $5.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.30 and a beta of 0.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.60 EPS. The business's revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,104,384. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and decreased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $60.28.

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.