Future Fund LLC Increases Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Future Fund LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 26.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 45,851 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,695 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for 1.3% of Future Fund LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Future Fund LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $3,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% during the fourth quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $86,000 after buying an additional 937 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $76.50 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $32.00 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $12.64 billion, a PE ratio of -36.96 and a beta of 0.38. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $74.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.67.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.57 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on IONS. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total transaction of $381,350.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 51,344 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,916,006.88. The trade was a 8.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total value of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,065,200. The trade was a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452 in the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.