First Trust Advisors LP Has $35.17 Million Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 10.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 468,363 shares of the company’s stock after selling 56,876 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.28% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $35,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.0%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $55.96 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.03 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.36. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $71.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.31.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.