Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 85.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,217 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,990 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $96,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after acquiring an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after acquiring an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Leerink Partners increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $99.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.23 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $74.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.54. The company has a market capitalization of $12.27 billion, a PE ratio of -35.86 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.93) EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total value of $2,827,460.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total value of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,402.85. This trade represents a 93.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 616,371 shares of company stock worth $46,406,452. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.