Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Increases Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 66.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 862,593 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 343,409 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.54% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $56,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. Mather Group LLC. purchased a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% during the third quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 614 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the second quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,341 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,000 after purchasing an additional 411 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Trending Headlines about Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Olezarsen thesis: Analysts and media highlight an expected 2026 launch of olezarsen in severe hypertriglyceridemia (SHTG). The piece argues commercial approval/rollout could drive a substantial revenue inflection and is cited as the primary bullish catalyst for IONS. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage: Several firms have raised targets or maintained positive ratings (examples: Leerink raised its target, Raymond James reaffirmed “strong-buy”); consensus remains a Moderate Buy with a target around ~$87. These upgrades underpin optimistic expectations but are not a guarantee of near‑term moves. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Technical / flows: Intraday volume is well above typical averages and the shares sit above the 200‑day moving average but near the 50‑day—momentum may hinge on clinical/commercial milestones and further news on olezarsen.
• Negative Sentiment: Concentrated insider selling: Multiple senior executives, including CEO Brett Monia and several EVPs, disclosed large open‑market sales on Jan. 16 (aggregate roughly ~117k shares / several million dollars), reducing their holdings by double‑digit percentages in some cases. Such high‑profile selling can weigh on sentiment even if it reflects diversification or tax planning. Read More. • Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $80.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $77.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Leerink Partners boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Oppenheimer upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $84.00 to $90.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $86.45.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.5%

Shares of IONS stock opened at $79.44 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $79.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $64.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 2.79 and a quick ratio of 2.78. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.95 and a 1-year high of $86.15. The firm has a market cap of $12.87 billion, a P/E ratio of -47.01 and a beta of 0.28.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last posted its quarterly 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. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 44.26% and a negative net margin of 26.45%.The firm had revenue of $156.72 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $131.75 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.95) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 17.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.5 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 9,884 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $75.34, for a total value of $744,660.56. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 41,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,159,382.90. The trade was a 19.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 9,302 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $75.59, for a total transaction of $703,138.18. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 63,890 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,829,445.10. The trade was a 12.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 391,163 shares of company stock valued at $30,183,387 over the last three months. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

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.