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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Traders purchased 16,494 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 44% compared to the average daily volume of 11,419 call options.

IonQ Trading Up 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE IONQ traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $9.99. The stock had a trading volume of 5,618,846 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,076,618. IonQ has a fifty-two week low of $4.80 and a fifty-two week high of $21.60. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $10.44 and a 200-day moving average of $12.25. The firm has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.69 and a beta of 2.16.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.20) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.23) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $6.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.70 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 28.27% and a negative net margin of 715.77%. On average, equities analysts predict that IonQ will post -1.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 27,212 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.20, for a total transaction of $277,562.40. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 697,647 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,115,999.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 27,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.20, for a total value of $277,562.40. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 697,647 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,115,999.40. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 19,672 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.20, for a total transaction of $200,654.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 954,224 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,733,084.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 86,556 shares of company stock worth $882,871. 13.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Huntington National Bank lifted its holdings in IonQ by 250,000.0% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 2,501 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Services Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $37,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the second quarter worth $38,000. Finally, Harbour Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 193.2% during the second quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 2,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IONQ shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on IonQ from $13.00 to $11.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 29th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $16.50.

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.