Raiffeisen Bank International AG Boosts Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Key Points

• Raiffeisen Bank International AG increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by an astounding 2,280.5%, now owning 41,754 shares valued at approximately $1.3 million.
• CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares for $109,440, reducing his ownership by 1.33%, yet retaining over $8 million in shares.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Ionis, with Barclays upgrading its rating and setting a new target of $57, while Morgan Stanley also upgraded its rating and set a target of $62.

Raiffeisen Bank International AG grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 2,280.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 41,754 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 40,000 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,299,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 46.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 11,465,413 shares of the company's stock worth $400,831,000 after purchasing an additional 3,637,041 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,801,000. Orbimed Advisors LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.2% during the fourth quarter. Orbimed Advisors LLC now owns 2,817,347 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,494,000 after purchasing an additional 492,900 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 660.7% in the first quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 500,451 shares of the company's stock worth $15,099,000 after purchasing an additional 434,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew 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 worth $27,067,000 after purchasing an additional 343,492 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on IONS. Barclays upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price target (up previously from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $59.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.36 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $41.05. The stock had a trading volume of 2,741,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,963,616. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $34.40. The company has a market capitalization of $6.54 billion, a PE ratio of -22.31 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $50.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million during 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%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.45) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $109,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,091,900. The trade was a 1.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total transaction of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 23,141 shares of company stock worth $995,156 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.