Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS is Exome Asset Management LLC's 6th Largest Position

Key Points

• Exome Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 121%, acquiring 74,249 additional shares, resulting in a total of 135,616 shares valued at approximately $4.09 million.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly earnings per share of $0.70, significantly surpassing analysts' expectations of $0.19, with revenue of $452 million, showing a year-over-year increase of 100.9%.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals' stock has seen various analyst rating changes, with price target boosts from Raymond James and Royal Bank of Canada, providing an average target price of $67.88 and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy."

Exome Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 121.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 135,616 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,249 shares during the quarter. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises about 3.5% of Exome Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Exome Asset Management LLC owned 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,092,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $60,000. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $62,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total transaction of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,858,142.88. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total value of $2,055,563.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,157,173.40. The trade was a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 491,141 shares of company stock valued at $28,486,139. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on IONS. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, August 25th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $84.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $67.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.4%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.16. The company had a trading volume of 1,471,443 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,227,816. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $45.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $64.71. 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 $10.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -34.33 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 analyst estimates of $270.90 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.45) earnings per share. The company'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, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal 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.