Vanguard Group Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 16,472,539 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 10.43% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $575,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $8,952,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $5,617,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company's stock worth $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 606.8% in the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 125,389 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,384,000 after purchasing an additional 107,648 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of IONS stock traded down $1.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,292,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,474,437. The company has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a PE ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $32.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.88 and a 52 week high of $52.34.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. William Blair restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $39.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 6,165 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,499,802.80. The trade was a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last quarter. Company 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.