684,236 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Bought by Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 684,236 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,253,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Globeflex Capital L P purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $5,973,000. Bank of Nova Scotia acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $5,435,000. Commerce Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $926,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $866,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $382,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of IONS opened at $62.04 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $63.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $71.92. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $41.71 and a twelve month high of $86.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.93 and a beta of 0.41.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. The business had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarterly revenue was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.70 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total transaction of $2,107,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. The trade was a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $53.38 per share, for a total transaction of $800,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on IONS shares. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. HC Wainwright lowered their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $95.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.