Squarepoint Ops LLC Sells 170,978 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Squarepoint Ops LLC trimmed its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 56.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 134,395 shares of the company’s stock after selling 170,978 shares during the quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,310,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Signaturefd LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.9% during the 2nd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $83,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.17, for a total value of $609,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 48,826 shares in the company, valued at $3,719,076.42. This represents a 14.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 33,038 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.72, for a total transaction of $2,501,637.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,517,228.04. This trade represents a 35.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 504,866 shares of company stock worth $35,744,766 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $80.82 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $83.61. The stock has a market cap of $13.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.82 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50 day moving average is $74.91 and its two-hundred day moving average is $56.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The company’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.95) EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Barclays increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.85.

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.