Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC Buys 524 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,476 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 524 shares during the period. Horizon Kinetics Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Commerce Bank grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 77,553 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 6,140 shares of the company’s stock valued at $246,000 after buying an additional 1,066 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently commented on IONS shares. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.56.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the firm’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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,499,802.80. This trade represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. The trade was a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $34.30 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $32.71 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.28 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect 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.