Fisher Asset Management LLC Grows Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 2,180.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 141,615 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 135,405 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $11,203,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% in the fourth quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after acquiring an additional 937 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $76.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The company has a market capitalization of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of -36.95 and a beta of 0.38. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $74.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.66. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $32.00 and a twelve month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $246.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on IONS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $458,591.65. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 5,812 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $70.97, for a total transaction of $412,477.64. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,534,273.30. This represents a 8.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452 over the last three months. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.