Candriam S.C.A. Has $39.99 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 15.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 611,237 shares of the company’s stock after selling 113,503 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.38% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $39,987,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $150,138,000 after buying an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,245,000 after purchasing an additional 48,141 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 1,160,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,869,000 after purchasing an additional 91,746 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 2nd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,104,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,646,000 after purchasing an additional 4,224 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,431,000 after buying an additional 343,409 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total value of $2,262,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,348.70. This represents a 43.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 431,284 shares of company stock valued at $34,770,331. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $86.50 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $80.55 and its 200 day moving average is $68.05. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock has a market cap of $14.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -51.18 and a beta of 0.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.95.

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.