Marshall Wace LLP Decreases Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Marshall Wace LLP trimmed its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 57.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 812,306 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,108,158 shares during the quarter. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $28,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. XTX Topco Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 50.9% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 25,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $887,000 after purchasing an additional 8,557 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 27,661 shares of the company’s stock valued at $967,000 after acquiring an additional 4,534 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 223,278 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,806,000 after acquiring an additional 61,202 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 68,803 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,405,000 after acquiring an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $3,692,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $28.40 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a PE ratio of -9.34 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $30.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.24. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 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, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 31st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $56.72.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. This trade represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,167 shares of company stock worth $2,010,458 over the last ninety days. Company 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.