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

Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 16.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 65,792 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,093 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,300,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 160.0% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 949 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 584 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% during the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% during 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. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,301 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.36 and a beta of 0.28. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.95.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’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 earned $0.12 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.44.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm’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 directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.