Renaissance Technologies LLC Purchases 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 7.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 205,514 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 15,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.13% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $7,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Xponance Inc. increased its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 19,339 shares of the company’s stock valued at $676,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 10,292 shares of the company’s stock valued at $360,000 after purchasing an additional 335 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd. lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 5,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 363 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC grew its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 21,826 shares of the company’s stock valued at $763,000 after buying an additional 373 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 13,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $476,000 after buying an additional 504 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONS has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, December 20th. HC Wainwright started coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $45.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating, eleven 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $56.72.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $28.40 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $30.86 and a 200-day moving average of $34.24. The company has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.34 and a beta of 0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.12, a current ratio of 8.47 and a quick ratio of 8.82.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 19th. The company reported ($0.66) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.12) by $0.46. The business had revenue of $227.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $140.97 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.25% and a negative return on equity of 100.05%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 30.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.12 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 13,242 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.45, for a total value of $429,702.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 219,526 shares in the company, valued at $7,123,618.70. The trade was a 5.69 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 6,165 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.62, for a total transaction of $194,937.30. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 57,452 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,816,632.24. This trade represents a 9.69 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 63,167 shares of company stock worth $2,010,458. 2.71% of the stock is currently owned by 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.