BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 23,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,529,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% during the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS opened at $71.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total transaction of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 804,850 shares of company stock worth $63,765,602. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.