The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Boosts Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 274,850 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 29,783 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company owned 0.19% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $13,099,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IONS. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $29,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $37,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 948.8% in the 1st quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,178 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,875 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, June 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Leerink Partners raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $39.38 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.75 and a beta of 0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44. The company has a current ratio of 7.61, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $46.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $43.69.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $152.35 million. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.