Baillie Gifford & Co. Trims Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 260,254 shares of the company’s stock after selling 35,429 shares during the period. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $12,404,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $233,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,353 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,275,319 shares of the company’s stock valued at $64,518,000 after buying an additional 33,012 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,288,000. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,407,000 after buying an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% in the 1st quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 571,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,786,000 after acquiring an additional 62,230 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the 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 $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $67.00 to $60.00 in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Barclays lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. TD Cowen upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, SVB Leerink upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $53.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.68.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.62 during trading on Friday, hitting $46.92. The stock had a trading volume of 773,512 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,194,068. The business’s 50-day moving average is $47.16 and its 200 day moving average is $43.99. The firm has a market cap of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.57 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a current ratio of 7.37, a quick ratio of 7.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $35.95 and a 12 month high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 109.65% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.9 earnings per share for the current 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.