J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Purchases New Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin acquired a new stake of 17,404 shares in Ionis during the fourth quarter valued at about $1.38 million, and institutional investors now own 93.86% of the stock with large positions held by firms like Capital World Investors and Adage.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, offloading 1,035,882 shares worth roughly $80.5 million over the past three months (including CEO Brett Monia and EVP Kyle Jenne), leaving insiders with 2.60% ownership.
• Ionis reported quarterly EPS of -$1.41 (missing estimates) while revenue was $203.3 million (above estimates but down 10.6% YoY); analysts’ consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $92.84 and a market cap of about $12.4 billion.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 17,404 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,377,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company's stock worth $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares during the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,798,000 after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company's stock worth $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,154,166 shares of the company's stock worth $75,506,000 after purchasing an additional 363,094 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

IONS stock opened at $75.13 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.79 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50-day moving average of $78.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $75.93. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.66) earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total value of $2,589,099.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. This represents a 12.32% 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 this hyperlink. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares in the company, valued at approximately $888,506.90. The trade was a 76.09% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,035,882 shares of company stock worth $80,492,247. Insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, March 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $92.84.

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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