SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. Takes $1.01 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 12,600 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,008,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 37.5% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Raymond James Financial began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 18th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $115.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 215,048 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.40, for a total transaction of $15,569,475.20. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 92,832 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,721,036.80. This represents a 69.85% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.23, for a total transaction of $6,741,601.47. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,382,293.42. This represents a 51.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $76.50 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $74.62 and its 200-day moving average is $77.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $32.00 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -36.96 and a beta of 0.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

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.