Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.8% during the first quarter, owning 148,690 shares worth approximately $4.5 million.
• Several analysts have upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals' ratings, with target prices now ranging from $43.00 to $95.00, reflecting a positive outlook for the stock.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.70, exceeding expectations, and 100.9% revenue growth year-over-year.

Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 40.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 148,690 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 43,071 shares during the quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $62,000. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company's stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $116,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. Wall Street Zen raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $62.00 to $65.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $67.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of IONS traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $64.04. The company had a trading volume of 1,816,429 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,216,107. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $64.71. The stock has a market cap of $10.21 billion, a PE ratio of -34.80 and a beta of 0.28. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.20. 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 earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $270.90 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.45) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 100.9% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 3,162 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $61.02, for a total value of $192,945.24. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,009 shares of the company's stock, valued at $915,849.18. This trade represents a 17.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 21,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.56, for a total value of $1,355,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 57,130 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,688,312.80. This trade represents a 26.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 491,141 shares of company stock worth $28,486,139. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.