Future Fund LLC Acquires 12,881 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Future Fund LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 28.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 58,732 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,881 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.6% of Future Fund LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Future Fund LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,410,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,158,000 after purchasing an additional 82,560 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $236,370,000 after purchasing an additional 258,155 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,541,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $121,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,890 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $54.39 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $8.99 billion, a PE ratio of -26.28 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The business has a 50 day moving average of $73.72 and a 200-day moving average of $76.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.03 and a 12-month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The company had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.05.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total value of $839,466.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,722,877.62. The trade was a 32.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.