Vanguard Group Inc. Sells 41,271 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Vanguard trimmed its Ionis stake by 0.3% in Q4, selling 41,271 shares and now holds 16,440,459 shares (about 10.15%) valued at roughly $1.30 billion.
• Insider selling has been significant: CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares for about $9.53 million, and insiders have sold 751,532 shares (~$57.68 million) in the past 90 days, leaving insiders with ~2.6% ownership.
• Fundamentals and outlook: Ionis beat estimates with $246M revenue (up 86.4% YoY) and ($0.56) EPS, remains unprofitable, and has a consensus analyst rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $99.35 price target and ~93.9% institutional ownership.

Vanguard Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 0.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 16,440,459 shares of the company's stock after selling 41,271 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 10.15% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $1,300,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd 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 lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company's stock valued at $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 363,094 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,326,000 after buying an additional 575,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Cowen reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.35.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $302,402.85. The trade was a 93.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,248,182.40. This trade represents a 34.30% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 751,532 shares of company stock worth $57,680,173 over the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.76 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm has a market cap of $12.34 billion, a PE ratio of -36.12 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $75.30 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.26. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $30.01 and a 52 week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 56.42%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.93) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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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