Deutsche Bank AG Invests $13.45 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Deutsche Bank initiated a $13.45 million position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter, buying 169,614 shares. Institutional investors now own 93.86% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $94.15, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.
• Ionis exceeded quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, reporting a loss of $0.69 per share and $267.95 million in revenue, although revenue declined 40.7% year over year and the company remains unprofitable.

Deutsche Bank AG bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 169,614 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,449,000. Deutsche Bank AG owned 0.10% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Perigon Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $276,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,690,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $208,000. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $424,000. Finally, Global Retirement Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $181,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a "market perform" rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given 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 target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.7%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $59.74 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $41.71 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. The firm has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $64.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $72.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The company's revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 30th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $53.38 per share, with a total value of $800,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

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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