DRW Securities LLC Makes New $2.43 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

DRW Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 50,956 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,429,000.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 70.6% in the first quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 24,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,044,000 after purchasing an additional 9,965 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $630,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 956,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,407,000 after acquiring an additional 58,000 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $765,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 260,702 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,189,000 after acquiring an additional 31,025 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $42.76 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $47.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $43.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $35.95 and a 52-week high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 0.39.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The company had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.60 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.68.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 14,750 shares of company stock worth $732,371 over the last quarter. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.