PSP Research LLC Takes $538,000 Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

PSP Research LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 6,800 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $538,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for 0.5% of PSP Research LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after acquiring an additional 182,540 shares during the period. Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $189,798,000 after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,418,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,476,000 after purchasing an additional 25,367 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after purchasing an additional 899,476 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.9% in the third quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 1,154,166 shares of the company’s stock worth $75,506,000 after purchasing an additional 363,094 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $73.84 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The firm 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. The business has a fifty day moving average of $74.17 and a 200-day moving average of $77.58.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The company had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on IONS. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $108.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total value of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,534,273.30. This trade represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total value of $368,483.34. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 23,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,782,506.21. This trade represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452 in the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.