Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Reduces Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd decreased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 53.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,407 shares of the company's stock after selling 10,734 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $329,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. C WorldWide Group Holding A S lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 33.3% during the 4th quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S now owns 400,000 shares of the company's stock worth $13,984,000 after acquiring an additional 100,000 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the fourth quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 43,811 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,532,000 after buying an additional 800 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $107,000. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $266,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company's stock valued at $476,000 after acquiring an additional 504 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.00.

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Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $34.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 420,419 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,637,329. The firm has a market cap of $5.50 billion, a PE ratio of -11.37 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company's 50-day moving average is $32.95 and its 200-day moving average is $37.47.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,816 shares of company stock worth $3,603,914. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.