Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Acquired by Harbor Advisors LLC

Harbor Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 90.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,500 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the quarter. Harbor Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $367,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after acquiring an additional 38,420 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,376,000 after acquiring an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 36,084 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,070,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. 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 report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $32.91 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $32.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.26. 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 $5.23 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the purchase, the director now owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.