Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP C Frank Bennett Sells 8,977 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP C Frank Bennett sold 8,977 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.15, for a total transaction of $674,621.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 94,757 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,120,988.55. This trade represents a 8.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6%

NASDAQ:IONS opened at $77.53 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $12.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 0.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $78.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $64.33. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.95 and a 1 year high of $86.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported ($0.80) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.15) by $0.35. The company 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.95) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright upped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $87.05.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONS. Capital World Investors raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 12,722,728 shares of the company’s stock valued at $832,321,000 after purchasing an additional 182,540 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% during the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares during the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC now owns 2,901,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $189,798,000 after purchasing an additional 9,268 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,891,095 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,245,000 after buying an additional 48,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% in the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about 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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Company 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.