Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 30.6% in the first quarter, selling 325,468 shares and retaining 737,859 shares worth approximately $55.4 million. Institutional investors collectively own 93.86% of IONS.
• Ionis insiders sold 233,163 shares valued at $18.3 million over the past quarter, including sales by CEO Brett Monia and EVP C. Frank Bennett under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 18 Buy ratings, three Holds and one Sell; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $95.90, despite recent target-price reductions.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership cut its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 30.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 737,859 shares of the company's stock after selling 325,468 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership owned about 0.45% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $55,406,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last quarter. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $55.96 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.03 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $71.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $75.31. The firm has a market cap of $9.25 billion, a PE ratio of -27.03 and a beta of 0.36. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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 $246.09 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 revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.93) EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on IONS. Citigroup dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $95.90.

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.

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