Bamco Inc. NY Makes New $1.64 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Bamco Inc. NY acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,636,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 20,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $79.40, for a total value of $1,596,416.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 22,541 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,789,755.40. This trade represents a 47.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 34,103 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.92, for a total transaction of $2,589,099.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 242,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,422,899.04. This trade represents a 12.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 804,850 shares of company stock valued at $63,765,602 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $72.34 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $11.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -29.65 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $80.39 and a 200-day simple moving average of $74.86. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a current ratio of 3.83, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.33 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on IONS. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

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.