Handelsbanken Fonder AB Has $3.40 Million Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 20.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,911 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,700 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,396,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd 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 purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 150.8% during the third quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership now owns 890,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,229,000 after buying an additional 535,110 shares during the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $19,755,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $17,790,000. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 304.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 472,749 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,678,000 after acquiring an additional 355,981 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 29,430 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.79, for a total value of $2,524,799.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 254,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,833,297.63. The trade was a 10.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $78.66 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.31 and a 200-day moving average of $72.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The company has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.31. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $203.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective 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. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. One investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.