Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. Acquires Shares of 121,628 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Fideuram Intesa Sanpaolo Private Banking S.P.A. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 121,628 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,622,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the period. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% during the fourth 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 period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $120.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.90.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 215,048 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total value of $15,569,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 92,832 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,721,036.80. This represents a 69.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.23, for a total transaction of $6,741,601.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 80,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,382,293.42. This represents a 51.37% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $73.84 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $12.20 billion, a PE ratio of -35.67 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $32.00 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $74.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.58.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.