Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 11,875 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. lessened its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 81,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,875 shares during the period. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after buying an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after buying an additional 945,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $41,223,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $52.95 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $73.27 and its 200-day moving average is $76.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.58 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $96.05.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,535.62. This represents a 72.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,692.80. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last quarter. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.