Diversified Trust Co Invests $1.02 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Diversified Trust Co purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 15,633 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,023,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after acquiring an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $19,755,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $17,790,000. American Century Companies Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 304.9% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 472,749 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,678,000 after purchasing an additional 355,981 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $89.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.19.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total transaction of $2,262,960.00. Following the sale, the director owned 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,348.70. The trade was a 43.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 16,777 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.91, for a total transaction of $1,357,427.07. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,415,439.54. This trade represents a 48.95% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 263,288 shares of company stock worth $19,811,198 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $79.11 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $60.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $83.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.81 and a beta of 0.30.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.95) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.