Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Bought by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 16.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,792 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,093 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas' holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in 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 last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company's stock valued at $676,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company's stock worth $360,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company's stock valued at $763,000 after purchasing an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $31.15. The company's stock had a trading volume of 799,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,448,598. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $30.23 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $32.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $35.70. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The firm's revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,367 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.31, for a total transaction of $44,167.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 48,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,551,429.27. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.