Swedbank AB Makes New $2.16 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Swedbank AB purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 27,253 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,156,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% in the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $302,402.85. This trade represents a 93.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,248,182.40. This trade represents a 34.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 637,013 shares of company stock valued at $48,098,942 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $75.71 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $74.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.42. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.57 and a beta of 0.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partners upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $99.35.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.