37,077 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Bought by Grandfield & Dodd LLC

Grandfield & Dodd LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 37,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,940,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. This trade represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $58.63 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $65.32 and its 200 day moving average is $72.73. The company has a market cap of $9.74 billion, a PE ratio of -16.95 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 7.73. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $41.71 and a 1 year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. The business had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $189.10 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The business’s revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $113.00 to $90.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.65.

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.