Lisanti Capital Growth LLC Buys New Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Lisanti Capital Growth LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 92,124 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,027,000. Ionis Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 1.5% of Lisanti Capital Growth LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $215,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,340,000. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, December 3rd. HC Wainwright raised their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 6th. One 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 company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $86.45.

Insider Transactions at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,829,445.10. This represents a 12.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 44,034 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total value of $3,294,623.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 224,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,810,782.06. The trade was a 16.39% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 277,891 shares of company stock valued at $21,730,823. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of IONS stock opened at $82.67 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.95 and a 52 week high of $86.15. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $80.25 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $66.21. The firm has a market cap of $13.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.92 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 26.45% and a negative return on equity of 44.26%. The company had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.95) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.