Fisher Asset Management LLC Buys 135,405 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Fisher Asset Management sharply increased its Ionis Pharmaceuticals position, buying 135,405 shares and lifting its stake by 2,180.4% to 141,615 shares worth about $11.2 million.
• Ionis posted better-than-expected quarterly results, reporting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.56 per share and revenue of $246 million, up 86.4% year over year and above analyst estimates.
• Wall Street remains cautiously bullish on IONS, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.90, while insiders have sold a significant amount of stock in recent months.

Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 2,180.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 141,615 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 135,405 shares during the quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned approximately 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company's stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $76.49 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.00 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.95 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.43 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.66.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $302,402.85. The trade was a 93.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares of the company's stock, valued at $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 616,371 shares of company stock worth $46,406,452. Company insiders own 2.60% 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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