Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Bought by Handelsbanken Fonder AB

Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 79.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 383,211 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 169,300 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB owned approximately 0.23% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $30,385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,862,692.80. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551 over the last quarter. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $55.42 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $9.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.02 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.37 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $66.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $73.41.

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.