339,967 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Purchased by Freestone Grove Partners LP

Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 339,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,956,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP owned 0.20% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONS. BMO Capital Markets started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Leerink Partners boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $62.43 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $42.13 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $10.37 billion, a PE ratio of -18.04 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $63.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.46.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Michael R. Hayden acquired 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,238,400. This represents a 26.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.