Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Has $2.59 Million Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Key Points

• Lisanti Capital Growth LLC cut its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 64.4% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 32,789 shares valued at about $2.59 million.
• Ionis reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with revenue of $246 million and EPS of -$0.56, beating analyst estimates on both lines; revenue also rose 86.4% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $100.90, even as insiders have sold shares recently and the stock traded around $75.56.

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC reduced its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 64.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,789 shares of the company's stock after selling 59,335 shares during the quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC's holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,594,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 608.4% in the 4th quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 1,091 shares of the company's stock valued at $86,000 after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 10th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $104.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $111.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $100.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $75.56 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $12.49 billion, a PE ratio of -36.50 and a beta of 0.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $32.00 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $74.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $77.58. 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 (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 analyst estimates of $195.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 126,670 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.20, for a total transaction of $9,525,584.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,248,182.40. This represents a 34.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,402.85. The trade was a 93.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 616,371 shares of company stock valued at $46,406,452. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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