NewEdge Wealth LLC Makes New $712,000 Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

NewEdge Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 8,977 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after buying an additional 146 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $376,000 after buying an additional 178 shares during the period. MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $765,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after acquiring an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The stock was bought at an average price of $51.60 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the purchase, the director owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,400. The trade was a 26.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,535.62. This trade represents 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $59.74 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s fifty day moving average is $64.20 and its 200-day moving average is $72.15. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $41.71 and a 12 month high of $86.74.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IONS shares. Guggenheim decreased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.15.

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.