NEOS Investment Management LLC Sells 2,400 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

NEOS Investment Management LLC decreased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 56,844 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,400 shares during the quarter. NEOS Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after acquiring an additional 1,416,781 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $8,952,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake 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 worth $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares during the period. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $5,617,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings 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 valued at $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $31.15 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $32.53 and its 200 day moving average is $35.80. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.