Natixis Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.6% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the 1st quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after buying an additional 9,965 shares in the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $630,000. TD Asset Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,407,000 after buying an additional 58,000 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $765,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 260,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,189,000 after buying an additional 31,025 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,104,384. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371 in the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.68.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $42.53 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.93 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $44.00. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $35.95 and a one year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.60 EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS 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.