11,681 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Acquired by Commerce Bank

Commerce Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 11,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $926,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of IONS. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,420,918,000 after acquiring an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after purchasing an additional 1,314,752 shares during the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the 4th quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after purchasing an additional 945,729 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $41,223,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total value of $30,516.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,692.80. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $63.36 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $63.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $71.62. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $41.94 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. The company has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a PE ratio of -18.31 and a beta of 0.41.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $189.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on IONS shares. 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 reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 29th. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.