Savant Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 5,607 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Savant Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 5,607 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $222,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the first quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 16,175,533 shares of the company’s stock valued at $488,016,000 after purchasing an additional 2,006,334 shares in the last quarter. BVF Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $57,727,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 291.1% in the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 1,075,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,451,000 after buying an additional 800,600 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,686,000 after buying an additional 274,310 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 33.5% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 668,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,403,000 after acquiring an additional 167,822 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 76,850 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.97, for a total value of $4,685,544.50. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 5,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $344,785.35. This represents a 93.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 49,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total value of $3,249,948.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 110,500 shares in the company, valued at $7,211,230. The trade was a 31.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 914,789 shares of company stock worth $59,075,699. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.00 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $69.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $50.58. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $76.78. The company has a market cap of $11.99 billion, a PE ratio of -43.79 and a beta of 0.33. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The company had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IONS. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $84.15.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.