Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Downgraded to Sell Rating by Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report released on Saturday.

IONS has been the subject of several other research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. 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 research note on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $105.00 to $86.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $94.85.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

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. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $69.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $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 has a 1 year low of $40.03 and a 1 year high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 111.08% and a negative net margin of 64.76%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. On average, analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.67 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total value of $462,698.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,270,004.44. The trade was a 6.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,811 shares in the company, valued at $325,535.62. The trade was a 72.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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

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.