Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP cut its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 35.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,945 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% during the third quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $673,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $807,000. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % 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 quarter. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $27.09 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $32.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.24. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $26.50 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The stock has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 24th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

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.