Profund Advisors LLC Acquires 20,318 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 110.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,639 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,318 shares during the quarter. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 5,762 shares of the company’s stock worth $257,000 after buying an additional 345 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,396 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,670,000 after purchasing an additional 319 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 83,922 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,851,000 after purchasing an additional 7,620 shares during the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,740,000. Finally, North Dakota State Investment Board increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter. North Dakota State Investment Board now owns 5,035 shares of the company’s stock worth $225,000 after purchasing an additional 332 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $69.00 to $56.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $54.00 to $66.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $76.00 to $70.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, September 8th. Nineteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.48.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 5.2%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $41.24 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $41.19 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.92 and a beta of 0.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $66.63.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Shannon Devers sold 1,357 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.54, for a total transaction of $59,083.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,490.94. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing medicines using antisense technology. Its platform is designed to selectively target RNA and regulate the production of disease-related proteins. The company develops therapies for neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic, and rare diseases.

Ionis has developed and commercialized medicines both independently and through collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. Its marketed or partnered products include Spinraza (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, Tegsedi (inotersen) and Wainua (eplontersen) for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, and Tryngolza (olezarsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome.