Baker BROS. Advisors LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Baker BROS. Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 216.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,225,043 shares during the period. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises approximately 0.8% of Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Baker BROS. Advisors LP’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $141,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $101.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $74.31 on Thursday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.11 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $74.89 and a 200-day moving average of $77.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -35.90 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 $195.57 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.93) EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director B Lynne Parshall sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.27, for a total transaction of $381,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 51,344 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,916,006.88. This trade represents a 8.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Kyle Jenne sold 4,902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.17, for a total transaction of $368,483.34. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 23,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,782,506.21. The trade was a 17.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 93,914 shares of company stock worth $6,941,424. 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.