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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) was the target of unusually large options trading on Friday. Investors bought 113,747 call options on the company. This is an increase of 62% compared to the average daily volume of 70,049 call options.

IonQ Trading Up 3.7%

IONQ stock traded up $1.64 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $46.48. The company had a trading volume of 25,683,520 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,290,809. The stock has a market cap of $12.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.19 and a beta of 2.55. IonQ has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $40.70 and its 200 day moving average price is $34.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.14. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 63.35% and a negative net margin of 753.20%. The firm had revenue of $7.57 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. The business's revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 1,497,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total transaction of $59,787,628.23. Following the sale, the insider owned 390,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,585,836.97. This represents a 79.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 43,382 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $47.73, for a total transaction of $2,070,622.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 603,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,787,585.82. This represents a 6.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,144,372 shares of company stock valued at $358,255,229 in the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. McGuire Investment Group LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 136.8% during the second quarter. McGuire Investment Group LLC now owns 165,716 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,121,000 after buying an additional 95,723 shares during the last quarter. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth $281,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its holdings in IonQ by 58.3% in the 2nd quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 17,563 shares of the company's stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 6,471 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA lifted its position in IonQ by 8,150.0% during the second quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 82,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 81,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 9.1% during the second quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 29,989 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,289,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONQ. 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. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $41.43.

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.