Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Has $6.15 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,876 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,875 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,148,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in 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 purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased 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 worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and partner AstraZeneca’s Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial missed its primary endpoint, sparking a sharp selloff and renewed investor concerns about the company’s clinical pipeline. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms announced investigations into possible securities-law issues related to how Ionis disclosed the trial results, adding an overhang for investors. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Levi & Korsinsky also said it is investigating Ionis after the trial failure, reinforcing concerns that litigation risk could rise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Biogen fell after sharing additional mid-stage data on the Ionis-partnered Alzheimer’s drug, another reminder that partner-program readouts can move sentiment on Ionis-linked assets. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright trimmed some forward earnings estimates for Ionis but kept a Buy rating and $125 price target, suggesting analysts still see upside despite near-term volatility. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis began dosing in its Phase I/II ASCEND study of ION337 in Dravet syndrome, a small positive pipeline update, though it is unlikely to offset the impact of the CARDIO-TTRansform setback. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Bank of America upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.05.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $54.93 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $9.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.54 and a beta of 0.36. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $75.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $76.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 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 in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.75 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total value of $462,698.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,270,004.44. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% 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 have sold a total of 239,038 shares of company stock valued at $18,758,049 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.