Perceptive Advisors LLC Acquires New Holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Perceptive Advisors LLC bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor bought 504,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,845,000.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. purchased a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Cassaday & Co Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $30,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Michael R. Hayden bought 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 30th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $53.38 per share, with a total value of $800,700.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 19,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,014,220. This represents a 375.00% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS opened at $51.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $8.60 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.36. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $40.03 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $69.55 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $74.57. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.93) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, July 17th. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $90.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $94.85.

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.