GSA Capital Partners LLP Buys Shares of 17,306 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 17,306 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,372,000.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,096 shares in the company, valued at $1,862,692.80. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, July 31st. The shares were acquired at an average price of $51.60 per share, for a total transaction of $258,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,238,400. This represents a 26.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $57.24 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $65.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $72.89. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $41.71 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The company has a market capitalization of $9.51 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.54 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.