Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 561,905 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. reduced its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.7%, selling 561,905 shares, which leaves them with 3,265,034 shares valuing approximately $98.5 million.
• Recent changes in institutional investors' positions show CWM LLC and Signaturefd LLC significantly increased their stakes in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% and 45.6%, respectively.
• Wall Street analysts have set a target price for Ionis Pharmaceuticals ranging from $55.00 to $82.00, indicating a generally positive outlook with multiple analysts rating the stock as "buy" or "overweight."

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 14.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,265,034 shares of the company's stock after selling 561,905 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 2.05% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $98,507,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares in the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 9,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $301,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.5% during the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 6,135 shares of the company's stock valued at $185,000 after purchasing an additional 481 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,641 shares of the company's stock valued at $562,000 after purchasing an additional 637 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,549 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.80, for a total value of $408,697.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 51,507 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,204,499.60. This represents a 15.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.98, for a total value of $439,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 93,466 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,110,634.68. This represents a 9.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,141 shares of company stock valued at $1,644,606. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $69.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $6.67 billion, a PE ratio of -22.73 and a beta of 0.25. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $50.43. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $41.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.22. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $452.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%.The company's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.45) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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