ARK Investment Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

ARK Investment Management LLC lowered its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 29.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 631,215 shares of the company’s stock after selling 269,103 shares during the quarter. ARK Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.39% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $41,294,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on IONS. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $79.45 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The stock has a market cap of $13.12 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.56 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $81.29 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.89. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm 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 posted ($0.66) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Brian Birchler sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.03, for a total value of $513,042.37. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 66,247 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,500,488.41. This represents a 8.53% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.