Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Raises Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 230.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 878,155 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 612,362 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned 0.54% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $57,449,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock worth $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $323,000. Finally, Savant Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $222,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $74.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.35 billion, a PE ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.31. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The business’s 50-day moving average is $80.82 and its 200 day moving average is $74.01.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.66) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total transaction of $2,827,460.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 804,850 shares of company stock valued at $63,765,602. 2.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on the discovery and development of RNA-targeted therapies designed to modulate gene expression. The company’s proprietary antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) technology enables the selective binding of short synthetic strands of nucleic acids to messenger RNA (mRNA), thereby inhibiting or altering the production of disease-causing proteins. Ionis’ pipeline spans a range of therapeutic areas, including neurological disorders, cardiovascular conditions, metabolic diseases and rare genetic disorders.

Since its founding in 1989 by Dr.