Allianz Asset Management GmbH Purchases New Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Allianz Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 11,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $752,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Callan Family Office LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 17.1% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 12,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $477,000 after buying an additional 1,759 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. This represents a 51.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total transaction of $413,600.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 56,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,660,775.68. This represents a 8.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 481,356 shares of company stock worth $38,987,621 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $80.60 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $13.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.69 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $69.12.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONS. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned 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 has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.95.

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.