Corient Private Wealth LLC Grows Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 3,184.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 216,438 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 209,848 shares during the quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $17,122,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jain Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,037.4% in the 3rd quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 225,739 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,768,000 after acquiring an additional 218,544 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 217,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,238,000 after acquiring an additional 155,334 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,449,000 after purchasing an additional 612,362 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares in the last quarter. Finally, DCF Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.2% during the third quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 108,413 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,092,000 after purchasing an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 in the company, valued at $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,648,641.78. The trade was a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 93,914 shares of company stock worth $6,941,424. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price objective on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $101.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $75.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.71 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $37.32 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $74.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.39. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 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.