Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by Braidwell LP

Braidwell LP lessened its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 10.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,100 shares during the period. Braidwell LP owned approximately 0.07% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $9,258,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.1% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 383,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,385,000 after buying an additional 169,300 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 318.1% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 103,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,745,000 after acquiring an additional 78,470 shares during the last quarter. TimesSquare Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $48,690,000. Eagle Health Investments LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $15,428,000. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $37,845,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 target price for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.15.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,400. The trade was a 26.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 225,163 shares of company stock worth $17,711,191. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS opened at $61.33 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $62.12 and a 200-day moving average of $70.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.73 and a beta of 0.42. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $50.01 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. The business had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.70 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 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.