Quest Partners LLC Sells 924 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Quest Partners LLC trimmed its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 40.2% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,373 shares of the company’s stock after selling 924 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $65,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after acquiring an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the first quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $953,000 after acquiring an additional 512 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now 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 accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.51 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.30 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The business has a fifty day moving average of $47.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $43.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.92) by $0.47. The company had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.