Artia Global Partners LP Buys New Stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Artia Global Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 144,376 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $11,448,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 2.1% of Artia Global Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Artia Global Partners LP owned 0.09% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $43,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.15.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was purchased at an average price of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,400. This represents a 26.32% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

IONS opened at $63.36 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.94 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of -18.31 and a beta of 0.41. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $63.55 and its 200 day moving average price is $71.62.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. The company had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.70 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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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