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

NEOS Investment Management LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). 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 Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after buying an additional 335 shares during the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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 business has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.80. The company has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.25 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $30.23 and a 52-week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during 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%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.44.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 45,670 shares in the company, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last quarter. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

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.