Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. decreased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 849,824 shares of the company’s stock after selling 98,442 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $29,710,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,914 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $33.75 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 0.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.04 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.52. 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 (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on IONS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report 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. StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the business’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 transaction, the director now owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,816 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,914. Corporate 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.