Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Bought by Artisan Partners Limited Partnership

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 150.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 890,072 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 535,110 shares during the quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned 0.55% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $58,229,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its position 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 last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $7,056,430.77. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total value of $2,262,960.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 36,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,912,348.70. This trade represents a 43.73% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders sold 464,579 shares of company stock worth $37,630,193. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on IONS. Barclays initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, December 3rd. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $88.80.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler raised its price target to $100 and moved to an “overweight” rating, signaling ~23% upside from current levels — a clear buy-side endorsement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Needham lifted its price target to $103 from $90, another analyst upgrade supporting the rally and reflecting greater confidence in revenue trajectory. Needham Lifts PT on Ionis Pharmaceuticals (IONS) to $103 From $90
• Positive Sentiment: Updates to Tryngolza outlook are materially positive: recent analysis lifts peak revenue estimates (several sources cite >$2B for Tryngolza and company-level peak revenue/royalty/milestone potential in the multi‑billion range), and management guides to cash-flow breakeven by 2028 — bullish for long-term value. Ionis Pharmaceuticals: Digesting Recent Events
• Neutral Sentiment: Company presented at Oppenheimer’s healthcare conference; slides/transcript provide additional visibility into pipeline progress and commercialization strategy but are informational rather than catalytic. IONS Presents at Oppenheimer Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: General earnings call coverage/recaps are available for detail on management commentary and guidance; useful for modeling but not single-handedly market-moving. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Summary
• Negative Sentiment: Q4 results were mixed: revenue and Tryngolza sales beat expectations, but EPS missed estimates and management gave a softer 2026 outlook, which pressured the stock in after-hours/early trade. Ionis Q4 Earnings & Sales Beat, Stock Down on Soft 2026 Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage noted the EPS miss led to a gap-down reaction in some sessions; near-term uptake for new drugs and the FY2026 revenue cadence remain the main risk factors to watch. Shares Gap Down on Disappointing Earnings
• Negative Sentiment: Stifel raised its target modestly to $77 but kept a “hold” rating — the lower relative PT signals at least one shop sees limited near-term upside. Article Title

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7%

Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $81.15 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $81.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $71.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $13.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -33.26 and a beta of 0.29.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 25th. The company reported ($1.41) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.23) by ($0.18). Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 66.25%. The firm had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $156.07 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.66) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 earnings per share for the current year.

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.