Perceptive Advisors LLC Makes New $37.84 Million Investment in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Perceptive Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 504,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,845,000. Perceptive Advisors LLC owned 0.30% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Grandfield & Dodd LLC lifted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Grandfield & Dodd LLC now owns 37,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,992,000 after acquiring an additional 146 shares during the period. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.7% during the first quarter. Checchi Capital Advisers LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $333,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc boosted its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 4,759 shares of the company’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 178 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 9,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $765,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the third quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 48,545 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,176,000 after purchasing an additional 301 shares during the period. 93.86% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about 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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ IONS opened at $51.77 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $69.55 and its 200-day moving average price is $74.57. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $40.03 and a 52-week high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 7.89. The company has a market cap of $8.60 billion, a PE ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.36.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on IONS shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $69.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $115.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research reiterated a “peer perform” rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial set a $87.00 target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, July 9th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Ionis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $94.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total transaction of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total value of $863,681.62. Following 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 233,163 shares of company stock worth $18,316,551. 1.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.