223,470 Shares in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Bought by Baker BROS. Advisors LP

Baker BROS. Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 223,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,952,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Mather Group LLC. raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 911 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $40,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $38.05, for a total value of $252,271.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,369,303.65. This trade represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $37.92, for a total transaction of $45,276.48. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 33,713 shares in the company, valued at $1,278,396.96. This represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578. Insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $62.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $60.65.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $35.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $5.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.64 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a current ratio of 8.91 and a quick ratio of 8.82. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $33.33 and a 1 year high of $54.44. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.07 and its 200-day moving average price is $42.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc discovers and develops RNA-targeted therapeutics in the United States. The company offers SPINRAZA for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) in pediatric and adult patients; TEGSEDI, an antisense injection for the treatment of polyneuropathy caused by hereditary transthyretin amyloidosis in adults; and WAYLIVRA, an antisense medicine for treatment for familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) and familial partial lipodystrophy.