Granite Investment Partners LLC Sells 2,054 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Granite Investment Partners LLC cut its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.8% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 114,090 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,054 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $29,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 948.8% in the first quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $42.76 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.16 and a 200 day moving average of $43.82. The company has a current ratio of 7.61, a quick ratio of 7.51 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.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the stock. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Bank of America raised 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. Barclays upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.68.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction 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 approximately $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.