Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Makes New $458,000 Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 9,050 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $458,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 33,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,675,000 after buying an additional 242 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 62,532 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,836,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,436 shares of the company’s stock valued at $700,000 after buying an additional 348 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Finally, Mariner LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the third quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 17,888 shares of the company’s stock valued at $811,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.6 %

NASDAQ IONS opened at $41.59 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $34.32 and a 52 week high of $54.44. The company has a current ratio of 5.90, a quick ratio of 5.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.18. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.16.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 21st. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.78) by $0.72. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 90.29% and a negative net margin of 46.32%. The business had revenue of $325.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $176.01 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.37) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 113.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Bank of America raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $52.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $58.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.08.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total value of $94,510.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,701,097.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,907 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.56, for a total value of $94,510.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 34,324 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,701,097.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 2,125 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.54, for a total transaction of $105,272.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 92,905 shares in the company, valued at $4,602,513.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 42,699 shares of company stock worth $2,104,091. Company insiders own 2.65% of the company’s stock.

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.