Granite Investment Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Granite Investment Partners LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 35.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,033 shares of the company’s stock after selling 15,148 shares during the period. Granite Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,834,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after acquiring an additional 48,141 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.6% in the second quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,160,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,869,000 after acquiring an additional 91,746 shares in the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after acquiring an additional 343,409 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 33.5% during the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 668,273 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,403,000 after purchasing an additional 167,822 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 6th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total transaction of $2,262,960.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,348.70. The trade was a 43.73% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 464,579 shares of company stock valued at $37,630,193 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $84.60 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.19. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a market capitalization of $13.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -50.06 and a beta of 0.29.

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.