Victory Capital Management Inc. Sells 346 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. decreased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 18,004 shares of the company’s stock after selling 346 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $629,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,000 after purchasing an additional 314 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 1,301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $107,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $32.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.83 and a beta of 0.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.56.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,885 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,539,706.85. This trade represents a 7.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

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.