Kennedy Capital Management LLC Cuts Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Kennedy Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,291 shares of the company’s stock after selling 13,475 shares during the period. Kennedy Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.07% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,646,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $73.28 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.40 and a beta of 0.37. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.78 and a 52-week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total value of $381,350.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,006.88. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $605,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,805,503.71. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 41,052 shares of company stock valued at $3,043,969. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Piper Sandler increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.