Insider Selling: Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Sells 8,480 Shares of Stock

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) EVP Brian Birchler sold 8,480 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.11, for a total transaction of $636,932.80. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 60,435 shares in the company, valued at $4,539,272.85. This represents a 12.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Brian Birchler also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, November 6th, Brian Birchler sold 8,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $76.17, for a total transaction of $609,360.00.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:IONS traded up $1.20 on Tuesday, reaching $77.53. The stock had a trading volume of 4,894,343 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,492,706. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The company has a market capitalization of $12.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -45.88 and a beta of 0.28. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.15. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $78.90 and a 200-day moving average price of $64.33.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONS has been the topic of several research reports. HC Wainwright upped their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. Wall Street Zen cut Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $97.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $49.00 to $80.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $87.05.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONS. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 253.3% in the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 3,800,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $150,138,000 after purchasing an additional 2,724,400 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after buying an additional 945,729 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 190.3% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,372,225 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,771,000 after buying an additional 899,476 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $41,223,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% in the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 878,155 shares of the company’s stock valued at $57,449,000 after acquiring an additional 612,362 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by 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.