Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 69,800 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 38.8% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 249,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 69,800 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.17% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,892,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,288,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $18,068,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $11,718,000. Finally, Superstring Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,593,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the subject of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $33.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. BMO Capital Markets lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.68.

Insider Activity

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $42.76 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -16.01 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 7.61, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $47.16 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $35.95 and a 1-year high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.60 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

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.