Logos Global Management LP Takes $14.30 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Logos Global Management LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 300,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,298,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 1.1% of Logos Global Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Logos Global Management LP owned approximately 0.21% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 8,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 202 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $363,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 23,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,115,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 10,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 430 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.68.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $41.83 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market cap of $6.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.39. The company’s 50 day moving average is $47.05 and its 200 day moving average is $43.80. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $35.95 and a 12-month high of $54.44.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at $817,300. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $116,640.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,104,384. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.