Renaissance Technologies LLC Acquires 81,942 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 36.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 305,549 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 81,942 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned about 0.18% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $22,944,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 11,280 shares of the company’s stock valued at $847,000 after purchasing an additional 424 shares during the last quarter. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,944,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.8% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 267,215 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,056,000 after acquiring an additional 91,180 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 5.7% in the first quarter. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC now owns 19,587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,471,000 after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 results exceeded expectations. Ionis reported a quarterly loss below Wall Street forecasts—reported figures ranged from $0.43 to $0.70 per share, compared with estimates for a loss of roughly $0.89 to $1.08. Revenue of approximately $268 million also surpassed consensus estimates near $189 million. Management highlighted progress across several commercial and clinical programs. Ionis Pharmaceuticals Reports Q2 Loss, Tops Revenue Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Olezarsen development expanded. Ionis announced an update to a Phase 3 pediatric trial evaluating olezarsen in familial chylomicronemia syndrome, extending the program’s potential reach in a rare-disease market. The study remains clinical-stage, so the announcement does not yet provide efficacy results or guarantee approval. Ionis Expands Rare Disease Reach With Pediatric FCS Trial for Olezarsen
• Neutral Sentiment: Chief scientific officer transition announced. Dr. Frank Bennett plans to retire as Ionis’s chief scientific officer. The change may draw attention because of his long association with the company’s antisense platform, although Ionis has not indicated an immediate disruption to its research programs. Ionis Announces Dr. Frank Bennett to Retire
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain focused on a major trial setback. A late-stage heart-disease therapy developed with AstraZeneca failed to meet its target, causing a sharp prior selloff and increasing uncertainty around Ionis’s pipeline and future milestone revenue. Ionis Faces Investor Scrutiny After Surprise Trial Failure
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder investigations add headline risk. Pomerantz and Hagens Berman announced investigations into whether Ionis adequately disclosed information related to the failed trial. These announcements do not establish wrongdoing, but they add legal and reputational uncertainty. Pomerantz Investor Alert

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total transaction of $2,107,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $54.04 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -26.11 and a beta of 0.36. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $70.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.92.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Barclays lowered their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $95.60.

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.