Great Lakes Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 66,924 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Great Lakes Advisors acquired 66,924 Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares in the second quarter, valued at approximately $5.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 93.86% of IONS.
• Ionis reported quarterly revenue of $267.95 million and an adjusted loss of $0.69 per share, beating analyst estimates, though revenue fell 40.7% year over year. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $94.15.
• Company insiders sold 233,163 shares worth approximately $18.3 million over the past 90 days, including sales by CEO Brett Monia and director Allene Diaz under pre-arranged trading plans.

Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 66,924 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,306,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company's stock worth $1,420,918,000 after buying an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,158,000 after acquiring an additional 82,560 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company's stock worth $236,370,000 after acquiring an additional 258,155 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company's stock worth $141,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,541,841 shares of the company's stock valued at $121,975,000 after purchasing an additional 21,890 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $325,535.62. This represents a 72.63% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $60.80 on Thursday. 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 cap of $10.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.57 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day moving average of $64.77 and a 200-day moving average of $72.41. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $41.71 and a one year high of $86.74.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the subject of a number of research reports. 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $94.15.

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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