Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Stake Increased by Privium Fund Management B.V.

Key Points

• Privium Fund Management increased its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 9.1% in the third quarter, adding 29,079 shares to reach 349,003 shares, valued at about $15.6 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of Ionis shares; other investors also expanded or initiated positions recently.
• Ionis shares rose 1.6% to $39.42 in Friday trading. Analysts’ consensus rating is “Moderate Buy,” with an average price target of $89.48.

Privium Fund Management B.V. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 9.1% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 349,003 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,079 shares during the quarter. Ionis Pharmaceuticals makes up 3.0% of Privium Fund Management B.V.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Privium Fund Management B.V. owned 0.21% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $15,583,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 199.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,417,916 shares of the company's stock worth $112,427,000 after buying an additional 944,766 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $62,718,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $54,253,000. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $48,690,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $43,011,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.42. 2,911,559 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,678,118. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $38.31 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $46.80 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.88. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm has a market cap of $6.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.39 and a beta of 0.43.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon Devers sold 1,357 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.54, for a total transaction of $59,083.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,490.94. The trade was a 7.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $89.00 to $80.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $56.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $86.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, September 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Nineteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $89.48.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing medicines using antisense technology. Its platform is designed to selectively target RNA and regulate the production of disease-related proteins. The company develops therapies for neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic, and rare diseases.

Ionis has developed and commercialized medicines both independently and through collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. Its marketed or partnered products include Spinraza (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, Tegsedi (inotersen) and Wainua (eplontersen) for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, and Tryngolza (olezarsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome.

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