XTX Topco Ltd Has $374,000 Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Key Points

• XTX Topco Ltd reduced its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.1%, selling 12,958 shares and now owning 12,404 shares worth $374,000.
• Ionis Pharmaceuticals reported strong quarterly earnings with an EPS of $0.70, significantly beating analysts' expectations of $0.19 and a revenue increase of 100.9% from the previous year.
• Analysts have recently adjusted price targets for Ionis Pharmaceuticals, with Barclays upgrading their rating and setting a new target at $57.00, reflecting growing optimism about the company.

XTX Topco Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 51.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,404 shares of the company's stock after selling 12,958 shares during the period. XTX Topco Ltd's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $374,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Raiffeisen Bank International AG acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,000. CWM LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% in 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 during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% in the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company's stock valued at $98,000 after buying an additional 3,066 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $116,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.93, for a total value of $209,650.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 86,344 shares in the company, valued at $3,620,403.92. This trade represents a 5.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 2,432 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $109,440.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 179,820 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,091,900. This trade represents a 1.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 28,141 shares of company stock worth $1,204,806 in the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $0.57 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.41. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,488,460 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,980,533. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $50.43. The company has a market capitalization of $6.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.51 and a beta of 0.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $40.22 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 28.25%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.45) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $64.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $51.00 to $57.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 1st. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $55.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their target price for the stock from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $58.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.