Commerce Bank Invests $926,000 in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Commerce Bank acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 11,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total transaction of $462,698.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,270,004.44. This trade represents a 6.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average price of $51.60 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,400. This represents a 26.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $63.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $63.55 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $71.62. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.94 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.31 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. The company had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have issued reports on IONS. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.15.

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.