Hsbc Holdings PLC Sells 18,515 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Hsbc Holdings PLC cut its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 40.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 26,941 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,515 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Jain Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,037.4% during the third quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 225,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,768,000 after buying an additional 218,544 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 217,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,238,000 after acquiring an additional 155,334 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,449,000 after acquiring an additional 612,362 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 28,259 shares during the period. Finally, DCF Advisers LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.2% in the third quarter. DCF Advisers LLC now owns 108,413 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,092,000 after acquiring an additional 16,663 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $80.69 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $39.37 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.98 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $77.34.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 190,153 shares of company stock valued at $14,606,373 over the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.