Renaissance Technologies LLC Buys 81,942 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 36.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 305,549 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 81,942 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $22,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. Ionis reported a quarterly loss below Wall Street forecasts—reported figures ranged from $0.43 to $0.70 per share, compared with estimates for a loss of roughly $0.89 to $1.08. Revenue of approximately $268 million also surpassed consensus estimates near $189 million. Management highlighted progress across several commercial and clinical programs. Ionis Pharmaceuticals Reports Q2 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Olezarsen development expanded. Ionis announced an update to a Phase 3 pediatric trial evaluating olezarsen in familial chylomicronemia syndrome, extending the program’s potential reach in a rare-disease market. The study remains clinical-stage, so the announcement does not yet provide efficacy results or guarantee approval. Ionis Expands Rare Disease Reach With Pediatric FCS Trial for Olezarsen
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief scientific officer transition announced. Dr. Frank Bennett plans to retire as Ionis’s chief scientific officer. The change may draw attention because of his long association with the company’s antisense platform, although Ionis has not indicated an immediate disruption to its research programs. Ionis Announces Dr. Frank Bennett to Retire
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on a major trial setback. A late-stage heart-disease therapy developed with AstraZeneca failed to meet its target, causing a sharp prior selloff and increasing uncertainty around Ionis’s pipeline and future milestone revenue. Ionis Faces Investor Scrutiny After Surprise Trial Failure
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder investigations add headline risk. Pomerantz and Hagens Berman announced investigations into whether Ionis adequately disclosed information related to the failed trial. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they add legal and reputational uncertainty. Pomerantz Investor Alert

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $95.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total transaction of $839,466.36. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 21,759 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,722,877.62. This represents a 32.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $54.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -26.11 and a beta of 0.36. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $70.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $74.92. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.03 and a 52-week high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.93) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

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.