Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. Buys Shares of 767 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 767 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 28.0% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 68,270 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,254,000 after purchasing an additional 14,950 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $252,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,657 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after acquiring an additional 454 shares during the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after acquiring an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $42.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 0.39. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $47.16 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $35.95 and a fifty-two week high of $54.44. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) 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 business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on IONS. Leerink Partners raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $53.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, June 14th. Leerink Partnrs raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.68.

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.