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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 967.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 141,917 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 128,619 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,961,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 38.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 249,514 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,892,000 after acquiring an additional 69,800 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,657 shares of the company's stock worth $460,000 after buying an additional 454 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after buying an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 28.0% in the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 68,270 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,254,000 after buying an additional 14,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. William Blair reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Elizabeth L. Hougen sold 8,870 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.81, for a total transaction of $291,024.70. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 107,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,539,706.85. This represents a 7.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 33,445 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $32.63, for a total transaction of $1,091,310.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 207,396 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,767,331.48. This trade represents a 13.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 57,293 shares of company stock valued at $1,914,820 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.0 %

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $1.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $32.68. 1,540,440 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,527,178. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of -13.39 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $35.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.91. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $31.40 and a twelve month high of $52.49.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.