21,447 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Bought by Capstone Capital Management Ltd

Key Points

• Capstone Capital Management initiated a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, buying 21,447 shares valued at about $1.61 million. The stake now represents roughly 1.6% of Capstone’s portfolio.
• Several analysts remain bullish on IONS, with recent price-target increases from firms including HC Wainwright, Bank of America, Oppenheimer, Canaccord Genuity, and Barclays. The stock currently carries a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $102.90.
• Insiders have been selling shares: CEO Brett P. Monia and EVP Eugene Schneider both sold stock in pre-arranged 10b5-1 transactions, and insiders sold 213,029 shares worth about $16.5 million over the last three months.

Capstone Capital Management Ltd purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 21,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,610,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 1.6% of Capstone Capital Management Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Oppenheimer reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a "buy" rating and a $110.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $102.90.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 213,029 shares of company stock worth $16,500,601 in the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $84.46 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.03 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $76.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $77.51. The company has a market cap of $13.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.80 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.

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