Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Has $7.43 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 212,500 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 17,500 shares during the quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB owned approximately 0.13% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $7,429,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,332,411 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,376,000 after buying an additional 45,300 shares in the last quarter. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $673,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $807,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 1,207 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total value of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,367 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.31, for a total transaction of $44,167.77. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 48,017 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,551,429.27. The trade was a 2.77 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,956 shares of company stock worth $3,608,439 in the last ninety days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 24th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Redburn Atlantic started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 31st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $39.00 target price on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $58.37.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 5.0 %

IONS opened at $27.09 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.91 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $26.88 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $35.33.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The company had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.12 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.