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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 68,802 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 63% compared to the average volume of 42,278 call options.

IonQ Stock Up 23.6 %

Shares of NYSE IONQ opened at $41.80 on Tuesday. IonQ has a fifty-two week low of $6.22 and a fifty-two week high of $42.81. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $23.26 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $13.15. The firm has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a PE ratio of -51.60 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total value of $115,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 638,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,488,001.76. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 3.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares during the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in IonQ by 12.4% during the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in IonQ by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 4,288 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC grew its position in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 40.6% in the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 7,744 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark upped their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th.

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.