Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Acquires Shares of 18,818 Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 18,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,231,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,340,000. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 66.1% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 862,593 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,431,000 after purchasing an additional 343,409 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $17,790,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1,669.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 312,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,430,000 after buying an additional 294,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $10,650,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $73.00 to $77.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Leerink Partners lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $89.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays assumed coverage on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $95.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $88.15.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 85,089 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total value of $7,056,430.77. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 80,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,658,698.49. The trade was a 51.45% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Joseph H. Wender sold 28,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.82, for a total value of $2,262,960.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 36,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,912,348.70. The trade was a 43.73% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 464,579 shares of company stock worth $37,630,193. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.4%

NASDAQ IONS opened at $80.60 on Friday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.95 and a one year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a quick ratio of 2.78 and a current ratio of 2.79. The company has a market capitalization of $13.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.03 and a beta of 0.29. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $81.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $71.63.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $203.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $156.07 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 40.36% and a negative return on equity of 66.25%. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.66) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 revenue beat estimates — quarterly revenue came in around $203M, helped by strong Tryngolza sales, showing commercial traction for the lead product. Ionis Q4 Earnings & Sales Beat
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst note: Stifel nudged its price target higher to $77 and maintained a Hold — a modest vote of confidence but the target still sits below the stock’s recent trade, so it’s not a bullish catalyst. Benzinga: Stifel Price Target
• Neutral Sentiment: Management outreach — Ionis presented at the Oppenheimer Healthcare Life Sciences conference and posted its Q4 earnings call transcript and slide deck, giving investors more detail on commercialization plans and pipeline milestones. Useful for diligence but not immediately market‑moving. Oppenheimer Conference Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Soft FY‑2026 revenue guidance — Ionis guided revenue of $800–$825M, well below the street (~$895.6M). Management flagged slower uptake for some newer drugs, which put pressure on the stock despite the quarter’s revenue beat. Ionis Guides Below 2026 Sales Views
• Negative Sentiment: Profitability/EPS confusion and misses — headlines show mixed EPS outcomes (company reported an adjusted loss in the quarter with some outlets noting an EPS miss vs. consensus), which combined with the weak guide increased uncertainty on near‑term earnings power. Press Release / Slide Deck

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.