Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Trims Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. decreased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 59.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 10,270 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,165 shares during the period. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $359,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $59,948,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after purchasing an additional 1,416,781 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,617,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after buying an additional 128,619 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. HC Wainwright began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on 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. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.70.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $27.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $4.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.07 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a 50 day moving average of $31.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.13. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.52 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released 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. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.