Hsbc Holdings PLC Cuts Stock Position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

Hsbc Holdings PLC trimmed its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 40.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 26,941 shares of the company’s stock after selling 18,515 shares during the quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,142,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 23.7% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 2,726 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 3,184.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 216,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,122,000 after acquiring an additional 209,848 shares during the period. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $228,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 5,554 shares of the company’s stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 1,807 shares during the period. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,891 shares of the company’s stock valued at $307,000 after buying an additional 303 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating and set a $108.00 price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Eighteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $96.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Patrick R. O’neil sold 3,069 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $80.00, for a total value of $245,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 61,470 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,917,600. The trade was a 4.76% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 50,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $80.59, for a total value of $4,029,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 245,571 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,790,566.89. The trade was a 16.92% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 244,038 shares of company stock worth $19,139,399 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 9.4%

IONS traded down $6.02 on Friday, reaching $58.25. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,439,176 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,922,914. The company has a market capitalization of $9.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.14 and a beta of 0.36. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $40.03 and a fifty-two week high of $86.74. The company has a quick ratio of 4.09, a current ratio of 4.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $75.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $77.27.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $246.09 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $195.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -3.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.