BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Makes New $4.91 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 62,073 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,911,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Quarry LP acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% during the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the company’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 value of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $605,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,805,503.71. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 327,480 shares of company stock worth $24,030,004 in the last quarter. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $74.48 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $12.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.98 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $74.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $34.78 and a 1-year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.