17,300 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Bought by Legato Capital Management LLC

Legato Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 17,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,650,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $78.66 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $81.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $72.85. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The firm had revenue of $203.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,658,698.49. This represents a 51.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 6,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $83.45, for a total value of $515,637.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 69,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,816,631.90. This represents a 8.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 436,579 shares of company stock valued at $35,367,233. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Bank of America increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

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.