Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Acquired by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Key Points

• Corient Private Wealth LLC dramatically increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, boosting holdings by 3,184.3% to 216,438 shares valued at about $17.1 million.
• Ionis reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of ($0.56) versus estimates of ($0.85) and revenue of $246.1 million, up 86.4% year over year.
• Wall Street sentiment remains constructive, with analysts assigning a Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of $101.80, even as some company insiders recently sold shares.

Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 3,184.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,438 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 209,848 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC owned about 0.13% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $17,122,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,992,000 after buying an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company's stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company's stock worth $765,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company's stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total transaction of $368,483.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,782,506.21. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,465,395.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 93,914 shares of company stock valued at $6,941,424 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $75.99 on Wednesday. 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 market cap of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of -36.71 and a beta of 0.37. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $74.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $37.32 and a 12-month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 2nd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 target price for the company. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen 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 company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $101.80.

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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