HC Wainwright Has Lowered Expectations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its price objective decreased by stock analysts at HC Wainwright from $125.00 to $115.00 in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. HC Wainwright’s target price would indicate a potential upside of 122.14% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $85.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Guggenheim cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $106.00 to $89.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $111.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $51.77 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a current ratio of 7.89, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The business’s 50 day moving average is $69.55 and its 200-day moving average is $74.57.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 362 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $84.30, for a total transaction of $30,516.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 22,096 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,862,692.80. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

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

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.