C WorldWide Group Holding A S Has $13.98 Million Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

C WorldWide Group Holding A S boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 33.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the quarter. C WorldWide Group Holding A S owned approximately 0.25% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $13,984,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,287.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 328,772 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,171,000 after acquiring an additional 319,065 shares during the period. Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $8,952,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the last quarter. Sovran Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,617,000. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 967.2% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 141,917 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,961,000 after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $32.33 on Monday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $30.23 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.63 and a beta of 0.34. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.65 and a 200 day moving average of $38.24.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 100.05% and a negative net margin of 64.25%. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $140.97 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.12 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total value of $194,937.30. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,816,632.24. The trade was a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 38,843 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.65, for a total value of $1,229,380.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 180,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,718,616.95. The trade was a 17.69 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,609 shares of company stock worth $3,564,867 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on IONS shares. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday. Citigroup cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $60.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.