Groupama Asset Managment Boosts Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Groupama Asset Managment raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 11.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,017,191 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,131 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $35,561,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.4% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 308,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,376,000 after purchasing an additional 34,097 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company’s stock worth $375,000 after acquiring an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,096,000. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $8,952,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares in the company, valued at $6,767,331.48. This represents a 13.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 7,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.84, for a total transaction of $234,937.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 45,670 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,499,802.80. This represents a 13.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $64.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 price objective for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.1 %

Shares of IONS opened at $30.17 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.92 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $29.61 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a 50-day moving average of $32.50 and a 200 day moving average of $35.63.

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

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.