Readystate Asset Management LP Invests $1.53 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 20,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,535,000.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after buying an additional 14,455 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $1,377,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after buying an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after buying an additional 1,225,043 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Eighteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $55.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $70.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $75.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $40.03 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $9.14 billion, a PE ratio of -26.71 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) 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. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.76 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total transaction of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. The trade was a 16.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551 over the last ninety days. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.