TD Asset Management Inc Decreases Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

TD Asset Management Inc decreased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 19.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 773,184 shares of the company’s stock after selling 187,088 shares during the quarter. TD Asset Management Inc’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $61,167,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $62,727,000 after acquiring an additional 945,729 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after acquiring an additional 899,476 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $41,223,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $57,449,000 after acquiring an additional 612,362 shares during the period. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% in the third quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,326,000 after acquiring an additional 575,000 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two investment 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 given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $74.48 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $34.78 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $74.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $77.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.31 billion, a PE ratio of -35.98 and a beta of 0.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.57 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.78 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total value of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,210,569.40. This represents a 27.47% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total value of $605,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $11,805,503.71. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 464,298 shares of company stock valued at $34,319,225. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.