Michael Hayden Buys 15,000 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) Director Michael Hayden acquired 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 30th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $53.38 per share, with a total value of $800,700.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 19,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,014,220. The trade was a 375.00% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.8%

IONS opened at $51.77 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.57. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a current ratio of 7.89 and a quick ratio of 4.09.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The business had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Ionis beat Wall Street’s second-quarter revenue and earnings expectations, helped by commercial growth despite difficult year-over-year comparisons. Management also reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, supporting confidence in the company’s operating trajectory. Zacks Q2 earnings report
• Positive Sentiment: Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares for approximately $800,700 on July 30 and another 5,000 shares for $258,000 on July 31. The purchases materially increased his ownership and may be viewed as a signal of confidence in Ionis’s valuation and prospects. SEC insider-trading filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo lowered its price target from $100 to $95 while maintaining an “overweight” rating. The reduced target reflects more cautious valuation expectations, but the rating remains bullish. Benzinga analyst report
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its target from $125 to $115 but retained a “buy” rating, similarly indicating lower near-term valuation expectations while maintaining a positive view of the stock. StreetInsider analyst report
• Negative Sentiment: Pomerantz LLP announced an investigation into potential claims on behalf of Ionis investors. Although the announcement does not establish wrongdoing, it adds legal and reputational uncertainty and may weigh on sentiment. Pomerantz investor alert

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on IONS shares. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $94.85.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 79.1% during the 2nd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 383,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,385,000 after purchasing an additional 169,300 shares during the last quarter. Victrix Investment Advisors acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $270,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 21.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 40,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,245,000 after buying an additional 7,254 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 22.8% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,168 shares of the company’s stock worth $172,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Investment Advisory LLC purchased a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

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.