Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Buys 612,362 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 230.4% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 878,155 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 612,362 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $57,449,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in 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. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total value of $4,354,569.30. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $302,402.85. This represents a 93.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares in the company, valued at $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 804,850 shares of company stock worth $63,765,602. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $74.79 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 3.83 and a quick ratio of 3.81. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $12.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.65 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $80.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.01.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). The company had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 68.82% and a negative net margin of 40.36%.The business’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. TD Cowen reissued 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. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $89.00.

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.