Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Bought by Grandfield & Dodd LLC

Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 2.0% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 33,774 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 670 shares during the period. Grandfield & Dodd LLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,464,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 162.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,616,978 shares of the company’s stock valued at $233,573,000 after purchasing an additional 2,856,353 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,288,000. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $18,068,000. First Turn Management LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $18,044,000. Finally, C WorldWide Group Holding A S acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $15,177,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares in the company, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Joseph Baroldi sold 4,006 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.60, for a total value of $166,649.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,631 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $816,649.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph Klein III sold 6,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.71, for a total transaction of $256,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $698,137.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $47.31. The stock had a trading volume of 1,830,163 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,207,534. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.15, a current ratio of 7.37 and a quick ratio of 7.28. The company has a market capitalization of $6.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.72 and a beta of 0.40. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.36 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.68. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $35.95 and a 52 week high of $54.44.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.98) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.10) by $0.12. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 49.49% and a negative return on equity of 107.64%. The firm had revenue of $119.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.87) earnings per share. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 9.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 27th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $82.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “underperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $44.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, June 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.64.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.