Handelsbanken Fonder AB Acquires 800 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 43,811 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 800 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,532,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after acquiring an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after acquiring an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 222.5% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 23,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 16,508 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,914 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% during the third quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after purchasing an additional 77,909 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $31.76 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $5.05 billion, a PE ratio of -10.45 and a beta of 0.34. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.98. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was bought at an average price of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 35,219 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,819,525.75. This trade represents a 2.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,816 shares of company stock valued at $3,603,914 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

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.