Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Decreases Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 12.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,398 shares of the company’s stock after selling 737 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of IONS. Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% in the 1st quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 151.3% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,872 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 1,127 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth approximately $60,000. CWM LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 18.7% during the first quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 384 shares during the period. Finally, Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 1,263 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.62, for a total transaction of $92,982.06. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,287,908.28. The trade was a 6.73% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 33,038 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.72, for a total value of $2,501,637.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 59,657 shares in the company, valued at $4,517,228.04. This trade represents a 35.64% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 924,789 shares of company stock worth $59,515,499. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on IONS shares. BMO Capital Markets upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $70.00 in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $84.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $71.55 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $68.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $49.69. The company has a quick ratio of 2.86, a current ratio of 2.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market cap of $11.59 billion, a PE ratio of -42.34 and a beta of 0.33. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.95 and a fifty-two week high of $76.78.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 45.29%. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

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.