Atle Fund Management AB Buys Shares of 92,377 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Atle Fund Management AB bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 92,377 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,308,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises 2.3% of Atle Fund Management AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% in the fourth quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total transaction of $381,350.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,344 shares in the company, valued at $3,916,006.88. This represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This trade represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.8%

IONS stock opened at $73.84 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of -35.67 and a beta of 0.38. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.58. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on IONS shares. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.90.

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.