Trexquant Investment LP Cuts Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 84,913 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,945 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned 0.05% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $2,969,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $676,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,000 after acquiring an additional 335 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after acquiring an additional 373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 180,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. This represents a 9.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $27.09 on Monday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.24. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $26.50 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted 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 business had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.12 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.