HBK Investments L P Invests $2.40 Million in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS)

HBK Investments L P purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 60,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,404,000.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Mather Group LLC. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 35.8% during 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. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 7,624 shares of the company’s stock worth $363,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nicollet Investment Management Inc. now owns 20,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $817,000 after acquiring an additional 294 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 9,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $399,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.9% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 664 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, September 26th. StockNews.com cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $67.00 to $60.00 in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $60.65.

Insider Activity at Ionis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 1,194 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 33,713 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,278,396.96. This trade represents a 3.42 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 6,630 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 167,393 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,369,303.65. This represents a 3.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 7,877 shares of company stock valued at $299,578 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $35.90 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $42.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $33.33 and a one year high of $54.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86, a quick ratio of 8.82 and a current ratio of 8.91.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.