Boone Capital Management LLC Invests $27.34 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Boone Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 417,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,335,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for about 9.0% of Boone Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. CWM LLC increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7.3% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $163,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 37,277 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.85, for a total value of $2,827,460.45. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 11,714 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $888,506.90. This represents a 76.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total value of $2,589,099.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 804,850 shares of company stock valued at $63,765,602 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on IONS. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $71.19 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $74.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.31. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 firm had revenue of $203.33 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $156.07 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.66) EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.