Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Has $6.13 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.7% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 81,696 shares of the company’s stock after selling 11,875 shares during the quarter. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,134,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $41,223,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total transaction of $462,698.88. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,270,004.44. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONS. Citigroup reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.05.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $52.95 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $73.27 and its 200-day moving average is $76.17. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $40.03 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $8.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.58 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current year.

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.