Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 39,457 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. trimmed its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 20.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 156,657 shares of the company's stock after selling 39,457 shares during the period. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. owned about 0.10% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $5,472,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Amalgamated Bank grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during the third quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company's stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock worth $763,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company's stock worth $476,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $32.91. 1,999,130 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,414,290. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $32.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $36.44. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $30.23 and a 12 month high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 0.28.

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, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on IONS shares. William Blair reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.56.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is 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.