Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Invests $4.64 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund bought 70,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,638,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after buying an additional 343,409 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after acquiring an additional 294,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $10,650,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Leerink Partners increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.95.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $83.15 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $70.67. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $23.95 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $13.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -49.20 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Shannon L. Devers sold 44,199 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.08, for a total value of $3,760,450.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 17,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,488,389.52. The trade was a 71.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total transaction of $2,262,960.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,912,348.70. This represents a 43.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 481,356 shares of company stock worth $38,987,621. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.