New York State Common Retirement Fund Sells 8,026,750 Shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $IONS

New York State Common Retirement Fund reduced its stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) by 97.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 168,222 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,026,750 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned 0.10% of Ionis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,005,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Mather Group LLC. bought a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 231.8% during the 2nd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 740 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 517 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 620.2% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 713 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 614 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE bought a new stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $83,000. Institutional investors own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of IONS opened at $84.59 on Wednesday. Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $23.95 and a twelve month high of $86.15. The stock has a market cap of $13.70 billion, a PE ratio of -50.05 and a beta of 0.29. The company has a quick ratio of 2.78, a current ratio of 2.79 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $80.42 and its 200-day moving average price is $67.14.

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Several Wall Street firms have raised targets or maintained upbeat ratings recently (Bank of America, Oppenheimer, Raymond James), which supports upside expectations and helps underpin the stock. MarketBeat IONS coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Some institutions increased or established positions in Q4 (e.g., Pictet, M&T Bank, Comerica), signaling continued institutional interest and reducing concern that sales are systemically negative. Institutional holdings details
• Neutral Sentiment: Insiders still retain large stakes after the trades (CEO and several EVPs continue to hold meaningful share counts), which can indicate rebalancing rather than full exits. CEO SEC filing
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Brett P. Monia sold 62,970 shares (~$5.2M) at ~\$82.72, reducing his stake by ~18%. A sale of this magnitude by the CEO is likely weighing on near‑term sentiment. CEO Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple executive VPs (including C. Frank Bennett, Brian Birchler, Eric Swayze, Patrick O’Neil, Elizabeth Hougen, Eugene Schneider) sold ~5.9–7.0k shares each in late January at low‑$80s prices. The pattern of coordinated small‑block insider sales increases share supply and can pressure momentum traders. Bennett Filing

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on IONS shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $94.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $82.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $49.00 to $80.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $86.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Eric Swayze sold 6,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.93, for a total transaction of $512,424.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 47,747 shares in the company, valued at $3,959,658.71. The trade was a 11.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Brett P. Monia sold 62,970 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $82.72, for a total value of $5,208,878.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 283,927 shares in the company, valued at $23,486,441.44. This trade represents a 18.15% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 387,233 shares of company stock worth $30,824,898. Company insiders own 2.71% of the company’s stock.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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.