Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Quantum Computing (NASDAQ:QUBT)

Key Points

• Traders purchased 87,955 call options for Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT), representing a 12% increase over the average volume of call options.
• The company's stock is currently trading down 7.4%, with a price of $16.00 and significant insider transactions occurring recently, including a sale by CRO Pouya Dianat.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on QUBT, with a consensus rating of "Hold" and a target price averaging $26.33, with ratings ranging from "strong sell" to "buy."

Quantum Computing Inc. (NASDAQ:QUBT - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Traders acquired 87,955 call options on the company. This is an increase of 12% compared to the average volume of 78,613 call options.

Quantum Computing Trading Down 7.4%

NASDAQ QUBT traded down $1.28 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $16.00. 45,904,296 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 51,646,744. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $14.88. Quantum Computing has a 1-year low of $1.00 and a 1-year high of $27.15. The firm has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.53 and a beta of 3.85.

Quantum Computing (NASDAQ:QUBT - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 14th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.06). The business had revenue of $0.06 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.10 million.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on QUBT shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Quantum Computing in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Quantum Computing in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $15.00 price target for the company. Lake Street Capital started coverage on Quantum Computing in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Quantum Computing from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 16th. Finally, Ascendiant Capital Markets increased their price target on Quantum Computing from $22.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Quantum Computing currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $26.33.

Insider Transactions at Quantum Computing

In other news, CRO Pouya Dianat sold 17,175 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.53, for a total transaction of $266,727.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert B. Fagenson sold 35,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.52, for a total value of $543,200.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 50,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $776,000. This trade represents a 41.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,154,649 shares of company stock valued at $16,805,481. Corporate insiders own 19.30% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Quantum Computing

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Quantum Computing in the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. acquired a new stake in Quantum Computing in the second quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Quantum Computing by 724.7% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,501 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 1,319 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Quantum Computing in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its stake in Quantum Computing by 100.0% in the third quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 2,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 4.26% of the company's stock.

Quantum Computing Company Profile

Quantum Computing Inc, an integrated photonics company, offers accessible and affordable quantum machines. The company offers Dirac systems are portable, low power, and room temperature qubit and qudit entropy quantum computers (EQC); reservoir computing; remote sensing; and single photon imaging. It also provides Quantum random number generator (uQRNG), a portable device that provides genuine random numbers directly from quantum processes; and quantum authentication which eliminates vulnerabilities inherent in classical cryptographic schemes by offering a comprehensive entanglement-based quantum cyber solution that seamlessly integrates into existing telecom fiber and communication infrastructure.

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