Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by Sector Gamma AS

Key Points

• Sector Gamma AS cut its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 31.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 85,986 shares and leaving it with 184,977 shares valued at about $14.6 million.
• Several other institutional investors increased positions, and overall institutional ownership remains very high at 93.86% of Ionis shares.
• Ionis reported quarterly results that beat expectations, posting an EPS loss of $0.56 versus the expected $0.85 loss on revenue of $246.09 million, while analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $100.90.

Sector Gamma AS decreased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 31.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 184,977 shares of the company's stock after selling 85,986 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 3.3% of Sector Gamma AS's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sector Gamma AS owned 0.11% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $14,634,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 298,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $23,614,000 after buying an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 660,769 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,273,000 after buying an additional 245,151 shares during the period. Xponance LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.0% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 22,941 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,815,000 after buying an additional 1,491 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,952,000. Finally, Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,156 shares of the company's stock valued at $566,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Two equities research 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $73.82 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $34.78 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The stock's 50-day moving average is $74.98 and its 200 day moving average is $77.80. The firm has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.66 and a beta of 0.37.

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 the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $412,477.64. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,569.40. The trade was a 27.47% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 256,100 shares of company stock valued at $18,613,444. 1.81% of the stock is currently 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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