Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS is Sovran Advisors LLC's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Sovran Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.1%, owning about 0.20% of the company valued at approximately $13.3 million after selling almost 7,000 shares.
• Analysts have varied ratings and price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Piper Sandler raising their target from $62 to $65 and HC Wainwright raising theirs from $70 to $95, reflecting a consensus target price of $67.88.
• Recent insider transactions included significant sales by Director B Lynne Parshall and CEO Brett P. Monia, suggesting a notable decrease in their stock holdings by 23.16% and 53.10%, respectively.

Sovran Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 321,913 shares of the company's stock after selling 6,991 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals makes up 1.4% of Sovran Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Sovran Advisors LLC owned about 0.20% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $13,308,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 32.6% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 7,555 shares of the company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,859 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 63,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,233,000 after acquiring an additional 4,900 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,450 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after acquiring an additional 1,625 shares in the last quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $231,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 921,439 shares of the company's stock valued at $32,214,000 after acquiring an additional 2,362 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other 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 value of $12,294,060.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,858,142.88. This trade represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,700 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.58, for a total value of $109,786.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 57,130 shares in the company, valued at $3,689,455.40. This represents a 2.89% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 492,841 shares of company stock worth $28,595,925. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.2%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.73 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $61.01. The company had a trading volume of 3,305,121 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,198,900. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $47.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.41. The firm has a market cap of $9.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.16 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $64.71.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, September 4th. BMO Capital Markets raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 21st. One equities research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $67.88.

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.