Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett Monia Sells 44,034 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) CEO Brett Monia sold 44,034 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.82, for a total transaction of $3,294,623.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 224,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,810,782.06. This represents a 16.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $77.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $78.90 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $64.33. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.15. The company has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The firm had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The company’s revenue was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.95) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

More Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analyst / media bullishness on olezarsen: A recent Seeking Alpha piece highlights an expected 2026 launch of olezarsen in SHTG and argues that approval/commercial rollout could drive a substantial revenue inflection for Ionis; the article notes strong recent momentum and positions olezarsen as the key upside catalyst. Ionis: Expected 2026 Launch Of Olezarsen In SHTG To Spur Leap In Revenue Growth
• Neutral Sentiment: Trading and technicals: Intraday volume is elevated (~4.9M shares vs. a ~1.5M average), suggesting the market is actively reacting to the news flow; the stock is above its 200‑day moving average (support) but near the 50‑day average—momentum could depend on upcoming clinical/commercial milestones.
• Negative Sentiment: Large, concentrated insider selling: Multiple executives (including CEO Brett P. Monia and several EVPs) sold shares on Jan 16 totaling roughly 117K shares (~$8.8M) — CEO sale (~44K shares, ~$3.3M) and several EVP sales of ~8–13K shares each. These filings can be reviewed in the SEC disclosures, which may signal tax/diversification activity but can also weigh on sentiment.
  Bennett filing
  Birchler filing
  Devers filing
  Hougen filing
  Jenne filing
  Kordasiewicz filing
  Monia (CEO) filing
  O’neil filing
  Schneider filing
  Swayze filings

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% during the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% in the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.05.

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.