Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI)

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 120,596 call options on the company. This is an increase of 66% compared to the average volume of 72,575 call options.

Rigetti Computing Trading Up 8.3%

NASDAQ:RGTI traded up $1.57 on Monday, reaching $20.51. 43,414,400 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 29,772,791. The company has a market capitalization of $6.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.16 and a beta of 1.79. Rigetti Computing has a 12 month low of $9.85 and a 12 month high of $58.15. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.36.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $4.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.09 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 3,111.92% and a negative return on equity of 14.91%. Equities analysts anticipate that Rigetti Computing will post -0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rigetti Computing news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $74,810.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,076,669.68. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $643,316.88. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 651,914 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,421,533.28. The trade was a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Penserra Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 43.8% during the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,860,000 after acquiring an additional 744,577 shares during the last quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $47,752,000. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG purchased a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing during the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,576,000. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 6,219.1% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 100,853 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,004,000 after acquiring an additional 99,257 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 222.3% during the 3rd quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd now owns 630,655 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,787,000 after acquiring an additional 434,989 shares during the last quarter. 35.38% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush upped their target price on shares of Rigetti Computing from $35.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, April 26th. TD Cowen downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Rigetti Computing from $51.00 to $31.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $30.64.

Rigetti Computing Company Profile

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti’s offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.