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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Stock traders bought 47,277 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 591% compared to the average daily volume of 6,842 call options.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its position in IonQ by 4.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 36,495 shares of the company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 3.6% during the 2nd 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 in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 29,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after buying an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 38.6% in the 4th quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 14,048 shares of the company’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 3,909 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 4,824.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Stock Up 20.5 %

Shares of IONQ traded up $1.65 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $9.71. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 44,977,168 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,688,012. The company has a market cap of $2.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.12 and a beta of 2.04. The business has a fifty day moving average of $7.46 and a 200 day moving average of $8.05. IonQ has a 1 year low of $6.22 and a 1 year high of $16.60.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 34.02% and a negative net margin of 525.13%. The firm had revenue of $11.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.66 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.16) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that IonQ will post -0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on IONQ. Craig Hallum reduced their price objective on IonQ from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.00.

About IonQ

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.