Hsbc Holdings PLC Reduces Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Hsbc Holdings PLC reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 40.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,941 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,515 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after buying an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after acquiring an additional 945,729 shares during the period. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after acquiring an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $80.69 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $75.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.34. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.37 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.98 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 190,153 shares of company stock valued at $14,606,373 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

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.