Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Purchased by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,847 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,586 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,141,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 113.3% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 41,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,886,000 after acquiring an additional 22,078 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,470 shares of the company’s stock worth $974,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James & Associates grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the third quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 194,629 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,828,000 after purchasing an additional 2,745 shares in the last quarter. NBT Bank N A NY acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $773,000. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.5% during the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 898,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,772,000 after purchasing an additional 113,644 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ IONS opened at $41.59 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $34.32 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18, a current ratio of 5.90 and a quick ratio of 5.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 46.32% and a negative return on equity of 90.29%. The company had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.37) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IONS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.08.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total transaction of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares in the company, valued at $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 23,501 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.37, for a total transaction of $1,160,244.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 174,138 shares in the company, valued at $8,597,193.06. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 42,699 shares of company stock worth $2,104,091. 2.65% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.