Ionis Pharmaceuticals Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NASDAQ:IONS)

Key Points

• Ionis Pharmaceuticals saw unusually heavy options activity: Traders bought 5,344 call options, 98% above the typical daily volume of 2,703 contracts.
• Shares fell $1.48 to $59.32, well below their 50-day and 200-day moving averages. The company beat quarterly revenue and EPS expectations, but revenue declined 40.7% year over year and analysts expect a full-year loss.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $94.15, while institutional investors own 93.86% of the stock; insiders sold $18.3 million worth of shares over the past quarter.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders acquired 5,344 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 98% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,703 call options.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:IONS traded down $1.48 during trading on Thursday, hitting $59.32. 241,517 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,414,089. The company has a market capitalization of $9.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -17.17 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.07, a quick ratio of 7.73 and a current ratio of 7.89. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $41.71 and a 1-year high of $86.74. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $64.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $72.41.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.69) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.08) by $0.39. Ionis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 64.76% and a negative return on equity of 111.08%. The firm had revenue of $267.95 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $189.10 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.70 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 40.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Allene M. Diaz sold 10,111 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.42, for a total transaction of $863,681.62. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,811 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $325,535.62. This trade represents a 72.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP C Frank Bennett sold 5,536 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $83.58, for a total value of $462,698.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 75,018 shares in the company, valued at $6,270,004.44. This trade represents a 6.87% 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 have sold a total of 233,163 shares of company stock valued at $18,316,551 over the last quarter. 1.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 199.7% during the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,417,916 shares of the company's stock worth $112,427,000 after buying an additional 944,766 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 83.7% during the 2nd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 63,396 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,027,000 after purchasing an additional 28,891 shares in the last quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 188,402 shares of the company's stock valued at $15,047,000 after purchasing an additional 2,435 shares during the last quarter. Archer Investment Corp bought a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, North Star Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $1,313,000. 93.86% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $72.00 to $76.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. TD Cowen reissued a "buy" rating and set a $108.00 target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $130.00 to $110.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $94.15.

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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