Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS is Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s Largest Position

Tweedy Browne Co LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 9,268 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 16.5% of Tweedy Browne Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest position. Tweedy Browne Co LLC owned about 1.79% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $189,798,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $293,000. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $92,000. Raab & Moskowitz Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $204,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2,360.2% in the 3rd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 4,822 shares of the company’s stock valued at $315,000 after purchasing an additional 4,626 shares during the period. Finally, PharVision Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $235,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total transaction of $2,589,099.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 20,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $1,596,416.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,541 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,789,755.40. This represents a 47.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 804,850 shares of company stock valued at $63,765,602 in the last three months. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $72.33 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $75.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.64 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.