PDT Partners LLC Boosts Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC has significantly increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, raising its holdings by 231.3% to own 96,056 shares worth approximately $2.9 million.
• Several institutional investors, including T. Rowe Price and Orbimed Advisors, have also increased their positions in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, indicating strong confidence among large investors.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported better-than-expected earnings of $0.70 per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $0.51, with a year-over-year revenue growth of 100.9%.

PDT Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 231.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,056 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 67,062 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC owned approximately 0.06% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $2,898,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Alpine Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $848,000. FORA Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $349,000. Jump Financial LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 104.6% in the first quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 81,321 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,453,000 after purchasing an additional 41,584 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.1% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 12,358 shares of the company's stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 1,031 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 16.9% during the 1st quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 993,704 shares of the company's stock valued at $29,980,000 after buying an additional 143,880 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ IONS traded up $1.88 during trading on Friday, hitting $61.23. 3,196,401 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,992,234. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $62.08. The firm has a market cap of $9.76 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.28 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.19 by $0.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.45) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 76,850 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.97, for a total value of $4,685,544.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,655 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $344,785.35. This trade represents a 93.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 33,909 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.62, for a total transaction of $2,055,563.58. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 101,570 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,157,173.40. This represents a 25.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,141 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,779 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on IONS shares. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $67.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.