Groupama Asset Managment Has $60.67 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Groupama Asset Managment cut its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 27.8% in the fourth quarter, though it still held 766,889 shares valued at about $60.67 million.
• Ionis reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting a smaller-than-forecast loss and $246.09 million in revenue, up 86.4% from a year ago.
• Wall Street remains bullish on IONS, with several firms raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $101.80.

Groupama Asset Managment trimmed its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 766,889 shares of the company's stock after selling 294,888 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment owned approximately 0.47% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $60,669,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $74.12 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a PE ratio of -35.81 and a beta of 0.37. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $36.45 and a twelve month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, May 18th. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total transaction of $587,920.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,465,395.37. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 93,914 shares of company stock worth $6,941,424 in the last 90 days. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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