Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Sells 32,198 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 220,261 shares of the company’s stock after selling 32,198 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned about 0.15% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $9,548,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Pingora Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. GAMMA Investing LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $47.85 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.28 and a 200-day moving average of $44.66. The company has a market cap of $6.98 billion, a PE ratio of -17.92 and a beta of 0.40. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $35.95 and a one year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. The company had revenue of $119.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.42 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 107.64% and a negative net margin of 49.49%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.87) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 8th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.64.

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.