Evolve Private Wealth LLC Buys Shares of 10,653 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Evolve Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 10,653 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $845,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of IONS. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Allworth Financial LP bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Silvant Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at approximately $43,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden purchased 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, July 31st. The shares were bought at an average cost of $51.60 per share, with a total value of $258,000.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 24,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,238,400. This trade represents a 26.32% increase in their position. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS opened at $59.74 on Monday. 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 company has a market cap of $9.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.27 and a beta of 0.41. The company’s 50 day moving average is $64.20 and its 200 day moving average is $72.08. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $41.71 and a 12-month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The company had revenue of $267.95 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.70 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 40.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IONS. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 19th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Seventeen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.15.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.