Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Shares Gap Down on Insider Selling

Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $84.46, but opened at $67.78. Ionis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $68.4070, with a volume of 4,290,986 shares changing hands.

Specifically, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.46, for a total value of $1,281,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,411,038.28. This trade represents a 16.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total value of $462,698.88. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,270,004.44. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total value of $30,516.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,692.80. This represents a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $96.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

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

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and AstraZeneca disclosed that the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial for eplontersen in ATTR-CM failed to hit its main efficacy goal, a major setback for a key partnered drug. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that the AstraZeneca-Ionis heart drug also missed its main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurrent heart problems, reinforcing investor concerns about the program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders, including an executive vice president and a director, disclosed stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, adding to near-term caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Traders bought an unusually large number of put options, suggesting some market participants are positioning for further downside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts cut price targets on IONS, but most kept Buy/Overweight ratings, indicating valuation confidence even after the setback. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright, Morgan Stanley, Canaccord Genuity, and Needham all lowered targets, with Needham trimming its target to $86 from $105 while maintaining a Buy rating. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis updated FY2026 revenue guidance to $875 million-$900 million, roughly in line with expectations, which does little to offset the clinical disappointment.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $75.78 and its 200-day moving average is $77.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.14 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONS. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after purchasing an additional 5,238,571 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,148,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $249,158,000 after purchasing an additional 82,560 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 9.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,987,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $236,370,000 after purchasing an additional 258,155 shares in the last quarter. Tweedy Browne Co LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.3% in the third 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 period. Finally, Baker BROS. Advisors LP grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock valued at $141,753,000 after purchasing an additional 1,225,043 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.