Kennedy Capital Management LLC Sells 13,475 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Kennedy Capital Management LLC lowered its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 11.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 109,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,475 shares during the quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $8,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total value of $381,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 51,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,006.88. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,052 shares of company stock worth $3,043,969. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $73.28 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.40 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $74.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $77.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $34.78 and a one year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.