Bamco Inc. NY Takes $1.64 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Bamco Inc. NY purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 652,518 shares of the company’s stock valued at $19,686,000 after purchasing an additional 274,310 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 659,435 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,895,000 after purchasing an additional 39,794 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 30.1% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 9,832 shares of the company’s stock valued at $297,000 after purchasing an additional 2,277 shares during the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $222,000. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $72.34 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $80.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $74.86. The company has a market capitalization of $11.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.65 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Leerink Partners lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $102.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,658,698.49. This trade represents a 51.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total transaction of $3,760,450.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. This trade represents a 71.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 804,850 shares of company stock worth $63,765,602 in the last 90 days. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.