IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 7.9% – Should You Buy?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

IonQ Trading Up 7.9 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.65 billion, a PE ratio of -55.04 and a beta of 2.49. The company’s 50 day moving average is $26.35 and its 200-day moving average is $14.31.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.72, for a total value of $98,184.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 648,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,954,953.76. The trade was a 1.39 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,640,000 after purchasing an additional 199,360 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after acquiring an additional 75,596 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 9.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 16.7% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 916,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,443,000 after acquiring an additional 131,439 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the last quarter. 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.