Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $525,000 Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 24.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 13,112 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,346 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $525,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,668,358 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,922,000 after buying an additional 183,814 shares in the last quarter. Great Point Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $15,728,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,443,020 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,807,000 after purchasing an additional 114,914 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $2,429,000. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 650,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,070,000 after acquiring an additional 77,909 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on IONS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim reduced their target price 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 lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $34.81 on Monday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $36.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.91 and a quick ratio of 8.82. 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 $5.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.27 and a beta of 0.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,278,396.96. The trade was a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $36.22 per share, for a total transaction of $181,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.