Baker BROS. Advisors LP Makes New $37.08 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Baker BROS. Advisors LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 566,798 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,080,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP owned approximately 0.35% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $71.19 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.51 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.43.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The company had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total transaction of $2,589,099.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. This represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total transaction of $4,354,569.30. Following the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $302,402.85. This represents a 93.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 804,850 shares of company stock worth $63,765,602. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

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.