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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 42,889 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 61% compared to the average volume of 26,560 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum upped their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.72, for a total transaction of $98,184.48. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 648,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,953.76. The trade was a 1.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,000 shares of company stock valued at $972,331. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 5.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,824,996 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,062,000 after acquiring an additional 918,265 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after acquiring an additional 75,596 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,654,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after acquiring an additional 569,906 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 9.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 135,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in shares of IonQ by 16.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 916,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,443,000 after purchasing an additional 131,439 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Trading Up 11.4 %

NYSE:IONQ opened at $29.14 on Friday. IonQ has a 12 month low of $6.22 and a 12 month high of $29.48. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $12.55 and its 200 day moving average is $9.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -34.52 and a beta of 1.89.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company’s revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Research analysts predict that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.