Strs Ohio Increases Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Strs Ohio grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 659.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 28,782 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 24,994 shares during the period. Strs Ohio’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,161,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $460,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,465,395.37. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total transaction of $839,466.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,877.62. This represents a 32.76% 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. Insiders sold 213,029 shares of company stock worth $16,500,601 in the last quarter. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of IONS stock traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $83.89. 198,156 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,063,143. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.03 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $75.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.40. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The stock has a market cap of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.55 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.