North Star Asset Management Inc. Makes New $1.31 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

North Star Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 16,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,313,000.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $41,000. Silvant Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $43,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $61.05 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $42.13 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $63.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $71.38. The firm has a market cap of $10.15 billion, a PE ratio of -17.64 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a quick ratio of 7.73, a current ratio of 7.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company’s revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.70 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total transaction of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,038.28. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 quarter. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on IONS shares. Wolfe Research reissued a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup reduced 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Seventeen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.15.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.