Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Holdings Trimmed by KBC Group NV

KBC Group NV lowered its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 97.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,699 shares of the company’s stock after selling 201,816 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $186,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 433 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,127 shares in the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. Finally, CWM LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 203,814 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.32, for a total value of $12,294,060.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 180,009 shares in the company, valued at $10,858,142.88. This trade represents a 53.10% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 49,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.26, for a total transaction of $3,249,948.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 110,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,211,230. This trade represents a 31.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 914,789 shares of company stock valued at $59,075,699. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $74.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $11.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -43.79 and a beta of 0.33. The business has a 50-day moving average of $69.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.58. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $76.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.87 and a quick ratio of 2.86.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 45.29% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.95) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 23rd. Barclays upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $84.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.