Victory Capital Management Inc. Grows Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 5.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,350 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,020 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $735,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% during the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock valued at $399,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 16,678 shares of the company’s stock worth $668,000 after buying an additional 338 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $35.90 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.67 billion, a PE ratio of -14.71 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.35 and a 200-day simple moving average of $42.39.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.