Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by Sector Gamma AS

Sector Gamma AS cut its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 270,963 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,879 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 4.4% of Sector Gamma AS’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Sector Gamma AS’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,726,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. CWM LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $27,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after buying an additional 411 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 11,411 shares of the company’s stock valued at $451,000 after acquiring an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: EU approval for Dawnzera (hereditary angioedema) expands Ionis’ commercial footprint after the prior U.S. clearance, increasing potential revenue and reinforcing the drug’s global launch narrative. This regulatory milestone supports longer-term sales upside and de-risks a marketed asset. Ionis’ Dawnzera Gets EU Approval for Hereditary Angioedema
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple insiders filed sales of Ionis shares today (large aggregate volumes from senior staff), which can be interpreted as profit-taking or signal reduced insider conviction and may pressure the stock in the near term. Key filings reported include sales by Brett Monia (44,034 shares), Elizabeth Hougen (12,922), Patrick O’Neil (9,191), Eugene Schneider (9,302), C. Frank Bennett (8,977), Brian Birchler (8,480), Shannon Devers (8,353), and two earlier smaller transactions. These are sizeable individual dispositions and bear watching for follow-on selling or the stated reasons in the filings (e.g., diversification, tax, option exercises).
  Brett Monia Sells 44,034 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Elizabeth Hougen Sells 12,922 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Patrick O’neil Sells 9,191 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Eugene Schneider Sells 9,302 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  C Frank Bennett Sells 8,977 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Brian Birchler Sells 8,480 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Shannon Devers Sells 8,353 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Kyle Jenne Sells 1,823 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock
  Holly Kordasiewicz Sells 4,141 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Bank of America upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $86.45.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 44,034 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total transaction of $3,294,623.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 224,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,810,782.06. The trade was a 16.39% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at $4,829,445.10. This trade represents a 12.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 395,140 shares of company stock valued at $30,506,876 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $80.04 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $79.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $64.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.15. The company has a market cap of $12.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.36 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.