SG Americas Securities LLC Raises Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 89.5% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 63,295 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,886 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,753,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Grandfield & Dodd LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total transaction of $4,466,704.86. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at $1,648,641.78. This trade represents a 73.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 190,153 shares of company stock worth $14,606,373 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $80.69 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $75.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.34. The stock has a market cap of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.98 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $39.37 and a 1-year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial began coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.90.

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.