Baker BROS. Advisors LP Buys Shares of 223,470 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Baker BROS. Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 223,470 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,952,000. Baker BROS. Advisors LP owned 0.14% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company's stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company's stock worth $817,000 after purchasing an additional 294 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company's stock worth $399,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ IONS traded up $0.43 on Monday, reaching $36.16. 1,056,773 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,328,365. The company has a market cap of $5.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.77 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 8.82, a current ratio of 8.91 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $38.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $42.38. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.33 and a 12 month high of $54.44.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total value of $45,276.48. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,278,396.96. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 167,393 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578 in the last three months. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $77.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 14th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $60.65.

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.