BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 62,073 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,911,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $41,223,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,449,000 after purchasing an additional 612,362 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,326,000 after purchasing an additional 575,000 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $74.48 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.78 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The company has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.98 and a beta of 0.37. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $74.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.82.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 215,048 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $15,569,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,832 shares in the company, valued at $6,721,036.80. The trade was a 69.85% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $605,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,805,503.71. This trade represents a 4.88% 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 327,480 shares of company stock worth $24,030,004 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen 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 stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.90.

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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