Grandfield & Dodd LLC Invests $2.94 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Grandfield & Dodd LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 37,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,940,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.1% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 383,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,385,000 after acquiring an additional 169,300 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,394 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 14,455 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 318.1% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 103,141 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,745,000 after purchasing an additional 78,470 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 29.0% in the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,333,424 shares of the company’s stock valued at $105,487,000 after purchasing an additional 299,802 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IONS. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Oppenheimer reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Wolfe Research restated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.65.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total transaction of $1,281,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,411,038.28. This represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ IONS opened at $58.63 on Tuesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.71 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $65.32 and a 200-day moving average of $72.73. The company has a market capitalization of $9.74 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.95 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The business had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 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.