Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its Ionis Pharmaceuticals stake by 28.6% in the first quarter, selling 193,576 shares and ending with 484,053 shares worth about $36.3 million.
• Ionis and AstraZeneca suffered a major clinical setback when the Phase 3 CARDIO-TTRansform trial of eplontersen failed to meet its main efficacy goal, prompting concerns about the heart-drug program.
• The stock fell sharply amid the news, with shares down 9.4% to $58.25, while several analysts trimmed price targets but mostly kept Buy/Outperform ratings.

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Free Report) by 28.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 484,053 shares of the company's stock after selling 193,576 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned 0.29% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $36,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Jain Global LLC grew its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,037.4% during the third quarter. Jain Global LLC now owns 225,739 shares of the company's stock worth $14,768,000 after acquiring an additional 218,544 shares during the period. DAVENPORT & Co LLC lifted its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 248.3% in the 4th quarter. DAVENPORT & Co LLC now owns 217,897 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,238,000 after acquiring an additional 155,334 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 548.7% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 33,409 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,643,000 after purchasing an additional 28,259 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $3,354,000 after purchasing an additional 14,455 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,529,000. 93.86% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on IONS. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $122.00 to $129.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 25th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Citigroup decreased their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Eighteen equities 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 currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $96.80.

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Holly B. Kordasiewicz sold 60,846 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.41, for a total value of $4,466,704.86. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 22,458 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,648,641.78. This represents a 73.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.05, for a total value of $2,107,300.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 77,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,250,089.70. This represents a 25.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 244,038 shares of company stock valued at $19,139,399 in the last three months. 1.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 9.4%

Shares of IONS stock traded down $6.02 on Friday, reaching $58.25. 11,439,176 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,922,914. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.14 and a beta of 0.36. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $40.03 and a 12-month high of $86.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a quick ratio of 4.09 and a current ratio of 4.10. The business's 50 day moving average price is $75.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $77.27.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.85) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $246.09 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $195.56 million. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 58.65% and a negative net margin of 30.91%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 86.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.93) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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