IonQ Target of Unusually High Options Trading (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Thursday. Investors bought 93,033 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 41% compared to the typical volume of 66,202 call options.

IonQ Stock Up 10.0 %

IONQ stock opened at $32.04 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $24.73 and a 200-day moving average of $30.36. The company has a market cap of $7.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -39.56 and a beta of 2.46. IonQ has a twelve month low of $6.22 and a twelve month high of $54.74.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at $12,563,438. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. The trade was a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on IONQ shares. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on shares of IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.33.

IonQ Company Profile

IonQ, Inc engages in the development of general-purpose quantum computing systems in the United States. It sells access to quantum computers of various qubit capacities. The company makes access to its quantum computers through cloud platforms, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) Amazon Braket, Microsoft’s Azure Quantum, and Google’s Cloud Marketplace, as well as through its cloud service.