Baker BROS. Advisors LP Makes New Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Baker BROS. Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 566,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,080,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,000 after acquiring an additional 411 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total value of $2,827,460.45. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 11,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $888,506.90. This trade represents a 76.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total value of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,248,182.40. This represents a 34.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 804,850 shares of company stock valued at $63,765,602 in the last ninety days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on IONS. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of IONS opened at $71.19 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $80.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $74.43. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.31.

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

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.