Raymond James Financial Inc. Buys New Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 105,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,692,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after buying an additional 38,420 shares during the period. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,376,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 36,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

Shares of IONS stock opened at $31.72 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.43 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $35.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.12 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. This 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 valued at $3,608,439 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on IONS. StockNews.com raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.44.

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.