196,791 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Acquired by Corient Private Wealth LP

Corient Private Wealth LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 196,791 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,604,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $62,718,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $61.05 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $63.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $71.38. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $42.13 and a 12-month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The firm’s revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, August 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.15.

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.