Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil Sells 9,191 Shares

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Patrick O’neil sold 9,191 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.84, for a total transaction of $697,045.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 66,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,018,408.64. This trade represents a 12.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded up $1.20 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $77.53. 4,894,343 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,492,706. 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 twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 0.28. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $78.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $64.33.

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

Key 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

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $92.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 23rd. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, October 6th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 5th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company 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 modified their holdings of the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $25,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 198.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 376 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the period. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.