Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Sold by Tweedy Browne Co LLC

Tweedy Browne Co LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 6.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,248,863 shares of the company’s stock after selling 205,813 shares during the quarter. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 7.7% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC owned about 2.06% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $113,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 16,472,539 shares of the company’s stock worth $575,880,000 after buying an additional 1,416,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,687,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,976,000 after acquiring an additional 18,890 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,948,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 38,420 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,376,000 after purchasing an additional 45,300 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 24th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.1 %

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $30.17 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.92 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.63. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $29.61 and a 52 week high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The company’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.12 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total value of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,767,331.48. The trade was a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.