Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Has $7.11 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 603.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 89,897 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 77,115 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $7,112,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $75.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.49 billion, a PE ratio of -36.50 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $74.18 and its 200-day moving average is $77.58. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 616,371 shares of company stock worth $46,406,452 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.