American Century Companies Inc. Grows Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 190.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 899,476 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned about 0.85% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $89,771,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during 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 grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after buying an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $323,000. Finally, Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.0% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 11,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of IONS opened at $78.66 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $81.31 and a 200 day moving average of $72.85. The firm has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The business had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.66) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 23,463 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.12, for a total value of $1,856,392.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 30,453 shares in the company, valued at $2,409,441.36. This trade represents a 43.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 12,922 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.22, for a total value of $971,992.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 126,307 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,500,812.54. The trade was a 9.28% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.