Proficio Capital Partners LLC Invests $829,000 in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 23,703 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $829,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company's stock worth $476,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company's stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on IONS. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS traded down $0.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $31.49. 1,431,240 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,423,362. The company's fifty day moving average price is $32.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.23 and a 52-week high of $52.34.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.