Stephens Inc. AR Buys Shares of 26,761 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Stephens Inc. AR purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 26,761 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,009,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. QRG Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Optas LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $303,000. Strs Ohio grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 659.8% in the 1st quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 28,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,161,000 after acquiring an additional 24,994 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 1,434,995 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,077,000 after acquiring an additional 16,504 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $547,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total transaction of $462,698.88. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,270,004.44. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 22,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,692.80. This trade represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 244,038 shares of company stock valued at $19,139,399 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and AstraZeneca said the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial for eplontersen in ATTR-CM did not meet its primary endpoint, a key clinical and commercial setback for the program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that AstraZeneca-Ionis’ Wainua failed to meet the main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurring heart problems in the late-stage study, reinforcing concerns about the franchise. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Shares saw unusually large put-buying, suggesting some traders are positioning for further downside after the trial disappointment.
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders disclosed stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, including Director Allene M. Diaz and EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz, which may add to near-term investor caution.
• Neutral Sentiment: Needham lowered its price target to $86 from $105 but reiterated a Buy rating, indicating continued optimism despite the reduced valuation outlook. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage notes that investors are debating whether the selloff creates a buying opportunity, but this is sentiment-driven rather than a fundamental catalyst. Article Title

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 23.9%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $64.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.62 billion, a PE ratio of -31.05 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $76.12 and a 200-day moving average of $77.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.03 and a 52-week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS 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.