Great Point Partners LLC Invests $15.73 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 330,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,728,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises about 3.0% of Great Point Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Great Point Partners LLC owned about 0.23% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,573,000 after acquiring an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $59,288,000. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 58,000 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.0% in the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 948,266 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,192,000 after purchasing an additional 36,369 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 12.2% during the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 571,763 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,786,000 after purchasing an additional 62,230 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.95 and a 12-month high of $54.44. The company has a quick ratio of 7.51, a current ratio of 7.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $47.05 and a 200-day moving average of $43.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $152.35 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 115.66% and a negative net margin of 44.90%. The company’s revenue was up 19.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.60 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,104,384. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. 2.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, June 14th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 27th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $75.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $60.68.

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.