IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 7.9% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price traded up 7.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.87 and last traded at $44.60. 10,933,554 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 10,545,495 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on IONQ shares. DA Davidson assumed 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 boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

IonQ Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $27.68 and its 200 day moving average is $14.78. The stock has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.04 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,875 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total value of $115,735.00. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 638,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,488,001.76. This represents a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in IonQ during the third quarter worth approximately $5,036,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth $3,749,000. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth $1,865,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,640,000 after acquiring an additional 199,360 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in IonQ during the third quarter valued at about $1,631,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.