Hsbc Holdings PLC Acquires New Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 188,402 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,047,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC owned about 0.11% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $53.38 per share, with a total value of $800,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This trade represents a 25.21% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $62.43 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $42.13 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $63.31 and a 200-day moving average of $71.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.04 and a beta of 0.41.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on IONS. Leerink Partners upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 price target for the company. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.