Pinnacle Associates Ltd. Buys 16,652 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Pinnacle Associates Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 436,404 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 16,652 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $19,485,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 24.8% during the 3rd quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 6,187 shares of the company’s stock worth $276,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 42,486 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,897,000 after buying an additional 1,559 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4,411.8% in the third quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 767 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 750 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avior Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $238,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IONS shares. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, September 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $86.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 4th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 24,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,238,400. This trade represents a 26.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon Devers sold 1,357 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.54, for a total value of $59,083.78. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,490.94. This trade represents a 7.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.3%

IONS opened at $45.40 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $42.08 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.54 billion, a PE ratio of -13.12 and a beta of 0.38. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.30 and its 200 day moving average is $63.77.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing medicines using antisense technology. Its platform is designed to selectively target RNA and regulate the production of disease-related proteins. The company develops therapies for neurological, cardiovascular and metabolic, and rare diseases.

Ionis has developed and commercialized medicines both independently and through collaborations with larger pharmaceutical companies. Its marketed or partnered products include Spinraza (nusinersen) for spinal muscular atrophy, Tegsedi (inotersen) and Wainua (eplontersen) for hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis, and Tryngolza (olezarsen) for familial chylomicronemia syndrome.