Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 49,846 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8%, selling 49,846 shares and leaving it with 812,747 shares (about 0.50% of the company) valued at roughly $64.3 million.
• Company insiders have been net sellers, offloading a total of 974,413 shares valued at $75.33 million over the last 90 days (insider ownership now 2.71%), including EVP Elizabeth Hougen and EVP Eugene Schneider.
• Analysts hold a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating (17 Buys, 2 Holds, 1 Sell) with a $94.37 price target; Ionis recently missed quarterly EPS estimates (-$1.41 vs. -$1.23) but beat revenue expectations ($203.3M vs. $156.1M).

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 5.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 812,747 shares of the company's stock after selling 49,846 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.50% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $64,296,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company's stock valued at $832,321,000 after buying an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third 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 period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of 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 valued at $75,506,000 after purchasing an additional 363,094 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,326,000 after purchasing an additional 575,000 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. HC Wainwright lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with 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, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.37.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 10,172 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.21, for a total value of $744,692.12. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 82,660 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,051,538.60. This trade represents a 10.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. The trade was a 8.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 974,413 shares of company stock valued at $75,333,995 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $76.76 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $77.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $76.85. The company has a market cap of $12.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.46 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $27.57 and a 1 year high of $86.74.

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

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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