Legato Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 17,300 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,132,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% in the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 614 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.0%

Shares of IONS opened at $78.66 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.81 and a current ratio of 3.83. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.95 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The firm has a market cap of $12.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.24 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s fifty day moving average is $81.31 and its 200-day moving average is $72.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 68.82%. The business had revenue of $203.00 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 15,642 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.76, for a total value of $1,278,889.92. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 32,105 shares in the company, valued at $2,624,904.80. This trade represents a 32.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 29,430 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.79, for a total transaction of $2,524,799.70. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 254,497 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,833,297.63. The trade was a 10.37% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 436,579 shares of company stock worth $35,367,233 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $89.00.

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.