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

Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:IONS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Thursday. Stock traders acquired 10,371 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 606% compared to the average daily volume of 1,470 put options.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Spencer R. Berthelsen sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.49, for a total value of $587,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 156,013 shares in the company, valued at $11,465,395.37. This trade represents a 4.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Eugene Schneider sold 26,000 shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 77,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,250,089.70. This trade represents a 25.21% decrease in their position. 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 213,029 shares of company stock valued at $16,500,601 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 1.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Ionis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 41.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 17,961,299 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,420,918,000 after buying an additional 5,238,571 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 19,941.6% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,321,345 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,532,000 after acquiring an additional 1,314,752 shares in the last quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker BROS. Advisors LP now owns 1,791,841 shares of the company’s stock worth $141,753,000 after acquiring an additional 1,225,043 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals by 7,219.3% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 958,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,727,000 after acquiring an additional 945,729 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $41,223,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 93.86% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IONS shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $100.00 to $111.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $103.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Ionis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set a “buy” rating and a $110.00 price objective for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Ionis Pharmaceuticals from $74.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, sixteen have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.90.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 23.7%

NASDAQ:IONS traded down $20.05 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $64.41. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,943,426 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,150,475. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.75, a current ratio of 4.10 and a quick ratio of 4.09. The stock has a market cap of $10.64 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.22 and a beta of 0.36. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $76.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $77.51. Ionis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $40.03 and a twelve month high of $86.74.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:IONS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The company reported ($0.56) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $195.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.93) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 86.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Ionis Pharmaceuticals will post -3.69 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Ionis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Ionis recently completed enrollment in the pivotal pediatric cohort of its Phase 3 REVEAL study for Angelman syndrome, advancing obudanersen toward possible regulatory filings. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Ionis drew unusually heavy call-option buying, which suggests some traders were betting on a rebound after the selloff. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: The AstraZeneca/Ionis late-stage failure is a major blow because the trial was testing whether eplontersen could reduce cardiovascular deaths and recurring heart problems, a key commercial opportunity for the partnership. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market coverage also pointed to a sharp stock slump after the trial disappointment, with investors rotating into competitors such as Alnylam and BridgeBio on the readout. Article Title

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.