Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Position Boosted by Assenagon Asset Management S.A.

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 967.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 141,917 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 128,619 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned approximately 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,961,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $237,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 56,825 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 1,529 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the third quarter. Groupama Asset Managment now owns 916,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 36,084 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $807,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total transaction of $252,271.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at $6,369,303.65. The trade was a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 57,293 shares of company stock worth $1,914,820. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.6 %

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $31.43 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $35.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.01. The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.88 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a current ratio of 8.91, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.40 and a 1 year high of $52.49.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 14th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

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.