IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 7.9% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares traded up 7.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $45.40 and last traded at $44.58. 18,418,371 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 74% from the average session volume of 10,585,782 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.32.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

IonQ Trading Up 8.2 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $15.01. The company has a market cap of $10.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -59.55 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 592,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,519,679.50. This represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock worth $2,286,983 over the last 90 days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. 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 buying an additional 1,731 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in IonQ by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in IonQ by 29.3% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,288 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its holdings in IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 40.6% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.