Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Stock Position Decreased by Braidwell LP

Braidwell LP decreased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 116,762 shares of the company’s stock after selling 14,100 shares during the quarter. Braidwell LP’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,258,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock worth $104,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased 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 during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 199.7% during the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,417,916 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,427,000 after purchasing an additional 944,766 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $61.33 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.19 billion, a PE ratio of -17.73 and a beta of 0.42. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $50.01 and a 1 year high of $86.74. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $62.12 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.80.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on IONS. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Seventeen equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the 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 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 this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. 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 225,163 shares of company stock worth $17,711,191 in the last ninety days. 1.81% of the stock is owned by 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.