Venturi Wealth Management LLC Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Venturi Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 3,061 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $107,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $40,000. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the third 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 period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% during the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $32.33 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.12 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total value of $234,937.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867. 2.71% of the stock is currently 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.