Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) Stock Price

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) had its target price dropped by Needham & Company LLC from $105.00 to $86.00 in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 47.64% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms also recently commented on IONS. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Oppenheimer reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $111.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 10th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $104.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright raised their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $125.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 25th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Ionis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $96.80.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

IONS stock opened at $58.25 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $75.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.27. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $40.03 and a 12 month high of $86.74. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.14 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.91% and a negative return on equity of 58.65%. The business had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $195.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.93) EPS. Ionis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Ionis Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 10,602 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.18, for a total transaction of $839,466.36. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 21,759 shares in the company, valued at $1,722,877.62. This represents a 32.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. This represents a 16.92% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 244,038 shares of company stock worth $19,139,399. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jain Global LLC raised its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,037.4% during the third quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 225,739 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,768,000 after buying an additional 218,544 shares during the last quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% during the fourth quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 217,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,238,000 after buying an additional 155,334 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 230.4% during the third 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 during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,643,000 after acquiring an additional 28,259 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 51.7% in the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 42,394 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after acquiring an additional 14,455 shares in the last quarter. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Ionis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Ionis and AstraZeneca disclosed that the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial for eplontersen in ATTR-CM failed to hit its main efficacy goal, a major setback for a key partnered drug. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that the AstraZeneca-Ionis heart drug also missed its main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurrent heart problems, reinforcing investor concerns about the program. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Several insiders, including an executive vice president and a director, disclosed stock sales under pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans, adding to near-term caution.
• Negative Sentiment: Traders bought an unusually large number of put options, suggesting some market participants are positioning for further downside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple analysts cut price targets on IONS, but most kept Buy/Overweight ratings, indicating valuation confidence even after the setback. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: HC Wainwright, Morgan Stanley, Canaccord Genuity, and Needham all lowered targets, with Needham trimming its target to $86 from $105 while maintaining a Buy rating. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis updated FY2026 revenue guidance to $875 million-$900 million, roughly in line with expectations, which does little to offset the clinical disappointment.

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.