Evolve Private Wealth LLC Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $845,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $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 stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock valued at $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,692.80. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $59.74 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $64.20 and a 200-day moving average price of $72.08. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.71 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.41.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The company had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on IONS shares. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.15.

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.