Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler Sells 8,480 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler sold 8,480 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total value of $636,932.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 60,435 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,539,272.85. The trade was a 12.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Brian Birchler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 6th, Brian Birchler sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.17, for a total transaction of $609,360.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of IONS opened at $77.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $12.56 billion, a PE ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 0.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.79, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.15. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $78.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $64.33.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.15) by $0.35. The business had revenue of $156.72 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $131.75 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.95) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $65.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.05.

Institutional Trading of Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Castle Rock Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $215,000. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $2,340,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,430,000 after purchasing an additional 294,643 shares during the period. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $10,650,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.