FORA Capital LLC Purchases New Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• FORA Capital LLC has acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 11,570 shares valued at approximately $349,000 during the first quarter.
• Insider sales at Ionis Pharmaceuticals included EVP Richard S. Geary selling 10,000 shares, indicating a 10.05% decrease in his holdings.
• Analysts have recently raised their price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with HC Wainwright increasing its target from $65.00 to $70.00 and giving the stock a "buy" rating.

FORA Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock worth $301,000 after acquiring an additional 458 shares during the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the first quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,135 shares of the company's stock worth $185,000 after acquiring an additional 481 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the first quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,641 shares of the company's stock worth $562,000 after acquiring an additional 637 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.0%

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $42.63. The company had a trading volume of 1,152,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,973,962. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.17 and a beta of 0.28. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $35.54. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $50.43. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

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

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total transaction of $209,650.00. Following the sale, the director owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,620,403.92. The trade was a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total value of $439,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 93,466 shares in the company, valued at $4,110,634.68. This trade represents a 9.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock worth $1,705,296 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $48.00 to $49.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $59.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.