Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Bought by Assetmark Inc.

Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 11,433.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,650 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 8,575 shares during the quarter. Assetmark Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after buying an additional 9,268 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,154,166 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,506,000 after buying an additional 363,094 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% during the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,326,000 after buying an additional 575,000 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Leerink Partners raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 target price for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,210,569.40. The trade was a 27.47% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $412,477.64. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 864,155 shares of company stock worth $67,020,422. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.83 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $28.79 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.67 and a beta of 0.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $76.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.66) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.15 EPS for the current year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.