Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Sells 67,359 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 55.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 54,269 shares of the company’s stock after selling 67,359 shares during the quarter. Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total transaction of $839,466.36. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,759 shares in the company, valued at $1,722,877.62. This trade represents a 32.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 213,029 shares of company stock worth $16,500,601. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $81.80 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $75.58 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $77.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $13.52 billion, a PE ratio of -39.52 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company 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 quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.93) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on IONS. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.