Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 46.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 77,415 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,557 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,690,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in 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 during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the second quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 512 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 63,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,195,000 after buying an additional 620 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

IONS stock opened at $39.38 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.75 billion, a PE ratio of -14.72 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $46.03 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.69. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $35.95 and a 1 year high of $54.44. 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 (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Barclays raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.56.

Insider Activity

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