GW&K Investment Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• GW&K Investment Management sharply increased its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 198% in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 522,661 shares and bringing its total holding to 786,668 shares worth about $62.2 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains broadly positive, with several analysts raising price targets and the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and average target of $100.90.
• Ionis reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting a smaller-than-expected loss of $0.56 per share and revenue of $246.1 million, while insiders also sold shares in recent transactions.

GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 198.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 786,668 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 522,661 shares during the quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC owned 0.49% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $62,234,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Los Angeles Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $52,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $100.90.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Brian Birchler sold 973 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.04, for a total transaction of $73,013.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 67,500 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,065,200. This trade represents a 1.42% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.67, for a total transaction of $605,360.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,805,503.71. The trade was a 4.88% decrease in their position. 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 256,100 shares of company stock valued at $18,613,444 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $74.58 on Wednesday. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $74.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $77.81. The stock has a market cap of $12.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -36.03 and a beta of 0.37. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $34.78 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.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm's revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.78 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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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