Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires 107,648 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 606.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 125,389 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 107,648 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. owned about 0.08% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,384,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Lindbrook Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 183.8% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 1,036 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 671 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $42,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 40.9% in the 3rd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 1,081 shares of the company's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 314 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the third quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 2,674 shares of the company's stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 1,301 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company's stock.

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Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on IONS. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, December 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $47.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $59.56.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.8 %

NASDAQ IONS traded down $0.61 during trading on Thursday, reaching $32.73. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,203,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,644,567. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $32.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $36.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $30.23 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -10.77 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 8.47, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.12) by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $227.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 30.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.12 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $36.22 per share, with a total value of $181,100.00. Following the acquisition, the director now directly owns 35,219 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,275,632.18. This trade represents a 16.55 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Patrick R. O'neil sold 1,207 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.35, for a total transaction of $39,046.45. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 56,245 shares in the company, valued at $1,819,525.75. This represents a 2.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,956 shares of company stock valued at $3,608,439 over the last 90 days. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.