Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Bought by E Fund Management Co. Ltd.

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,255 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 430 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,353 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,288,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $18,068,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $11,718,000. Finally, Superstring Capital Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,593,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.68.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $42.36 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61. The company has a market cap of $6.18 billion, a PE ratio of -15.87 and a beta of 0.39. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $47.47 and a 200-day moving average of $43.85. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.60 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.