Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by ARK Investment Management LLC

ARK Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,905,056 shares of the company’s stock after selling 461,311 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $96,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,974,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $48,399,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $42,750,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 92.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,760,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,862,000 after acquiring an additional 845,902 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.0% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,806,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $566,411,000 after acquiring an additional 605,747 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $44.66 on Thursday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $46.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.32 and a 12 month high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 5.90 and a quick ratio of 5.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.72. The company had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.37) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 32,059 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $1,616,414.78. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 154,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,771,537.12. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,285 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.75, for a total transaction of $118,248.75. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 151,851 shares in the company, valued at $7,858,289.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 32,059 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.42, for a total transaction of $1,616,414.78. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 154,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,771,537.12. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,734 shares of company stock valued at $5,152,226. 2.65% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on IONS shares. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $63.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, February 1st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, December 18th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $72.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $55.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.