Stevens Capital Management LP Makes New Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Stevens Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 5,860 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $205,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,350 shares of the company’s stock valued at $735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.0% in the third 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 during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after acquiring an additional 114,914 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% during the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 308,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,376,000 after acquiring an additional 34,097 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $33.45 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $30.23 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $32.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $36.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The company has a market cap of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.00 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results 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. 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 net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company’s revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONS. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. StockNews.com upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.44.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total transaction of $1,229,380.95. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at $5,718,616.95. This represents a 17.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.