Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 8,222 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.9%, now holding 74,833 shares valued at approximately $2.22 million.
• Several hedge funds have altered their positions in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Signaturefd LLC increasing its stake by 45.6%.
• Analysts have varying outlooks on Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus target price set at $59.64 and numerous firms recommending a "buy" rating.

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 74,833 shares of the company's stock after selling 8,222 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $20,801,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,494,000 after acquiring an additional 492,900 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 660.7% in the 1st quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 500,451 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,099,000 after acquiring an additional 434,659 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.7% in the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 774,215 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,067,000 after acquiring an additional 343,492 shares during the period. Finally, Sovran Advisors LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 91.4% in the 1st quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC now owns 328,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,341,000 after acquiring an additional 157,092 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total transaction of $439,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 93,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,110,634.68. This represents a 9.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total transaction of $408,697.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 39,568 shares of company stock valued at $1,705,296 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $61.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 31.3%

NASDAQ IONS traded up $13.33 on Tuesday, hitting $55.97. 5,934,038 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,779,671. The company has a market cap of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of -30.42 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $23.95 and a 12 month high of $56.23. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $42.06 and a 200-day moving average of $35.62. 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 issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.