Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 684,236 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management purchased 684,236 Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares worth approximately $54.3 million, giving it a 0.41% stake. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 93.86% of the company.
• Ionis insiders sold 233,163 shares valued at about $18.3 million over the past three months, while company insiders retain a 1.81% ownership stake.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $94.15, despite recent target reductions. Ionis reported a quarterly loss of $0.69 per share but exceeded estimates, while revenue of $267.95 million fell 40.7% year over year.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. 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 fund purchased 684,236 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $54,253,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.41% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IONS. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company's stock worth $19,686,000 after acquiring an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company's stock valued at $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company's stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $220,000. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 47.8% during the second quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. now owns 9,254 shares of the company's stock worth $341,000 after purchasing an additional 2,991 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. The trade was a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total transaction of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,411,038.28. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Wolfe Research restated a "peer perform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

IONS stock opened at $62.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.93 and a beta of 0.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.71 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.92. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

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