IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd Acquires New Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Key Points

• IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd has acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, purchasing 8,059 shares valued at approximately $243,000 during the first quarter.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported a significant earnings beat with an EPS of $0.70, surpassing estimates and showing a 100.9% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Institutional investors own 93.86% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, highlighting strong confidence in the company, with notable increases in positions from several major investors.

IQ EQ FUND MANAGEMENT IRELAND Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 8,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $243,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 193.5% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 951 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 627 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $62,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% in the first quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 3,066 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.59 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $41.64. 1,739,246 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,003,101. The company has a market cap of $6.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.63 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.87, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $50.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.95 and a two-hundred day moving average of $34.46.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $109,440.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This represents a 1.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total transaction of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,204,499.60. This trade represents a 15.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 28,141 shares of company stock worth $1,204,806 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.