Empowered Funds LLC Makes New Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 223,142 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,693,000.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,158,000 after purchasing an additional 82,560 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,370,000 after purchasing an additional 258,155 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,541,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $121,975,000 after buying an additional 21,890 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 22,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This represents a 73.04% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2%

IONS stock opened at $61.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $42.13 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $63.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $71.38.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Leerink Partners raised their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.