Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. Has $12.31 Million Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. cut its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 13.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 352,140 shares of the company’s stock after selling 54,730 shares during the period. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. owned 0.22% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $12,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after purchasing an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,481,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,791,000 after purchasing an additional 38,420 shares in the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 36,084 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,367 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.31, for a total transaction of $44,167.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 48,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,551,429.27. This represents a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. The trade was a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 over the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of 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. dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $34.30 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a PE ratio of -11.28 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.23 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $32.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $36.59.

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

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.