The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires New Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm bought 120,678 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,569,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company’s stock worth $341,000 after buying an additional 2,991 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The stock was acquired at an average price of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,238,400. This trade represents a 26.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,535.62. This represents a 72.63% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2%

IONS opened at $61.05 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $42.13 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. The stock has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 0.41. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $63.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.38.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The company had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on IONS shares. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.15.

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.