Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS Buys Shares of 29,105 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Kornitzer Capital Management purchased a new stake of 29,105 shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: IONS) during Q4, valued at about $2.30 million.
• Several large institutions materially increased positions—e.g., Marshall Wace added 945,729 shares (now 958,829) and American Century added 899,476 shares (now 1,372,225)—contributing to 93.86% institutional ownership.
• Analysts have been raising targets and ratings (consensus "Moderate Buy", price target $99.35), and Ionis recently beat revenue and EPS estimates with revenue of $246M (+86.4% year-over-year) and EPS of -$0.56 versus an expected -$0.85.

Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 29,105 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,302,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company's stock valued at $62,727,000 after buying an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company's stock valued at $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $41,223,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company's stock valued at $57,449,000 after buying an additional 612,362 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vestal Point Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 115.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vestal Point Capital LP now owns 1,075,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,326,000 after buying an additional 575,000 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on IONS. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday. 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 note on Thursday, April 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $99.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total value of $368,483.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,782,506.21. This represents a 17.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 6,193 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.05, for a total transaction of $458,591.65. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 16,348 shares in the company, valued at $1,210,569.40. This represents a 27.47% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 751,532 shares of company stock worth $57,680,173. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $75.28 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $31.66 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.43 billion, a PE ratio of -36.37 and a beta of 0.38. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $75.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.31.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its 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. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $195.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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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