Boone Capital Management LLC Takes $27.34 Million Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Boone Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 417,833 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,335,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises 9.0% of Boone Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Boone Capital Management LLC owned 0.26% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after buying an additional 945,729 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $41,223,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,449,000 after buying an additional 612,362 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $89.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of IONS opened at $71.19 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.43. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The stock has a market cap of $11.76 billion, a PE ratio of -29.18 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.81, a current ratio of 3.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total value of $2,589,099.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,422,899.04. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 54,878 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.35, for a total value of $4,354,569.30. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $302,402.85. This represents a 93.51% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 804,850 shares of company stock worth $63,765,602. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.