Groupama Asset Managment Sells 294,888 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Groupama Asset Managment lessened its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 27.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 766,889 shares of the company’s stock after selling 294,888 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $60,669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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. This trade represents a 27.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total value of $368,483.34. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 23,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,782,506.21. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 93,914 shares of company stock valued at $6,941,424 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They set a “buy” rating and a $115.00 target price for the company. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $74.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $12.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.81 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $36.45 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $74.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $77.53. 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 issued its quarterly 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. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. Analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current 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.