Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Sells $863,681.62 in Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Allene Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 9.4%

Shares of IONS traded down $6.02 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $58.25. 11,439,176 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,922,914. The company has a current ratio of 4.10, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $75.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $77.27. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $40.03 and a 52 week high of $86.74. The company has a market cap of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.14 and a beta of 0.36.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.73 EPS for the current year.

More Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and AstraZeneca disclosed that the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial for eplontersen in ATTR-CM failed to hit its main efficacy goal, a major setback for a key partnered drug. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that the AstraZeneca-Ionis heart drug also missed its main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurrent heart problems, reinforcing investor concerns about the program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders, including an executive vice president and a director, disclosed stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, adding to near-term caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Traders bought an unusually large number of put options, suggesting some market participants are positioning for further downside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts cut price targets on IONS, but most kept Buy/Overweight ratings, indicating valuation confidence even after the setback. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright, Morgan Stanley, Canaccord Genuity, and Needham all lowered targets, with Needham trimming its target to $86 from $105 while maintaining a Buy rating. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis updated FY2026 revenue guidance to $875 million-$900 million, roughly in line with expectations, which does little to offset the clinical disappointment.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONS. Grandfield & Dodd LLC raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,992,000 after purchasing an additional 146 shares in the last quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $333,000 after buying an additional 157 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 5,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $460,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the period. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Leerink Partners upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 25th. Bank of America lifted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 2nd. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.80.

About Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.