Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Friday. Stock investors bought 113,747 call options on the company. This is an increase of 62% compared to the average volume of 70,049 call options.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of IonQ stock opened at $46.48 on Friday. IonQ has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $40.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $12.16 billion, a PE ratio of -31.19 and a beta of 2.55.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced 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 analysts’ expectations of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 63.35% and a negative net margin of 753.20%. IonQ’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that IonQ will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark raised their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $41.43.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $2,507,050.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 552,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $21,313,473.44. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 25,696 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.46, for a total value of $1,039,660.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 62,115 shares in the company, valued at $2,513,172.90. This trade represents a 29.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,144,372 shares of company stock worth $358,255,229. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,460,000 after buying an additional 123,839 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,593,000 after purchasing an additional 45,942 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,231 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,809,000 after purchasing an additional 216,752 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 101.4% during the 1st quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 927,760 shares of the company’s stock valued at $20,476,000 after purchasing an additional 467,084 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.