abrdn plc Has $12.06 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

abrdn plc lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 22.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 303,274 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 56,357 shares during the period. abrdn plc owned about 0.21% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $12,064,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% during the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company's stock worth $1,044,000 after buying an additional 9,965 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth about $630,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $765,000. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 27,838 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,207,000 after purchasing an additional 11,210 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $613,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. BMO Capital Markets downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned 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 presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $60.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0 %

NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $38.76. The company had a trading volume of 739,908 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,245,846. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $42.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a current ratio of 7.61 and a quick ratio of 7.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $35.95 and a twelve month high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,803 shares of company stock worth $134,402. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.