Candriam S.C.A. Has $29.98 Million Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 16.9% to approximately 993,704 shares during the first quarter, making the total value of its shares around $30 million.
• Several large investors, including CWM LLC and Signaturefd LLC, also boosted their holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, further indicating growing institutional interest in the company.
• Ionis reported earnings of $0.70 per share for the last quarter, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.19, with revenue rising 100.9% year-over-year.

Candriam S.C.A. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 16.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 993,704 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 143,880 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned approximately 0.62% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $29,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $62,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised 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 valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $116,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $439,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 93,466 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,110,634.68. The trade was a 9.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 10,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.86, for a total value of $428,600.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 89,492 shares in the company, valued at $3,835,627.12. This represents a 10.05% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 38,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,644,606 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.55 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $42.69. The company had a trading volume of 1,859,935 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,166,917. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $6.80 billion, a PE ratio of -23.20 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.13. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $50.43.

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

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.