Raymond James Financial Inc. Grows Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Raymond James Financial Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 40.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 148,690 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 43,071 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned about 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,486,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,000 after buying an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Raiffeisen Bank International AG purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $62,000. CWM LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after acquiring an additional 384 shares during the period. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,722.5% during the 1st quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 3,244 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after acquiring an additional 3,066 shares during the period. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $116,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $55.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus set a $43.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $58.00 to $78.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.88.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $61.23 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $62.08. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $36.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 2.86 and a current ratio of 2.87. The company has a market capitalization of $9.76 billion, a PE ratio of -33.28 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported $0.70 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.19 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $452.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $270.90 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.25% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 100.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.45) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $12,294,060.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,858,142.88. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 76,850 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.97, for a total value of $4,685,544.50. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 5,655 shares in the company, valued at $344,785.35. This trade represents a 93.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 464,141 shares of company stock valued at $26,772,779 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.