Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 77,115 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management boosted its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 603.3% in the fourth quarter, buying 77,115 additional shares to hold 89,897 shares worth about $7.1 million.
• Ionis reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting an EPS loss of $0.56 versus the $0.85 estimate and revenue of $246 million, which was well above forecasts and up 86.4% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally positive on the stock, with several firms raising price targets and the consensus rating sitting at Moderate Buy with an average target price of $100.90.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 603.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 89,897 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 77,115 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. owned 0.06% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $7,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company's stock worth $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company's stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company's stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $75.56 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $32.00 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.58. The firm has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.50 and a beta of 0.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 16,348 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,569.40. This trade represents a 27.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total transaction of $368,483.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,782,506.21. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452 over the last quarter. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. They set a "buy" rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $100.90.

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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