Great Point Partners LLC Makes New $15.73 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Great Point Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 330,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,728,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals comprises 3.0% of Great Point Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Great Point Partners LLC owned approximately 0.23% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pingora Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $44,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company's stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded down $0.83 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $41.00. 2,565,658 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,312,389. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $35.95 and a one year high of $54.44. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $47.05 and a 200 day moving average of $43.80. The company has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.67 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.67, a quick ratio of 7.51 and a current ratio of 7.61.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.45) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.92) by $0.47. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 44.90% and a negative return on equity of 115.66%. The firm had revenue of $225.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $152.35 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.60 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 19.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $75.00 price objective on the stock. Leerink Partners raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $53.00 to $62.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $68.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $54.00 to $59.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $60.68.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total transaction of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Joseph Klein III sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,346 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $817,300. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Richard S. Geary sold 2,430 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.00, for a total value of $116,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 85,508 shares in the company, valued at $4,104,384. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 14,750 shares of company stock valued at $732,371. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company's stock.

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.