Baker BROS. Advisors LP Trims Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Baker BROS. Advisors LP reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 98.8%, owning approximately 0.22% of the company now, after selling 30 million shares during the first quarter.
• Other institutional investors have varied their positions, with Signaturefd LLC increasing its stake by 45.6%, while Exchange Traded Concepts LLC dramatically increased by 1,722.5%.
• Ions’ stock saw recent upgrades from analysts, with target prices raised by several firms, leading to an overall consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.64.

Baker BROS. Advisors LP trimmed its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 98.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 357,915 shares of the company's stock after selling 30,000,000 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP owned about 0.22% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $10,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total value of $209,650.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. This represents a 5.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total transaction of $428,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 89,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,835,627.12. The trade was a 10.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 39,568 shares of company stock worth $1,705,296 over the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $42.63 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $50.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a PE ratio of -23.17 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $35.62.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The company had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.45) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. HC Wainwright upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.

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