Prudential PLC Takes $443,000 Position in IonQ, Inc. $IONQ

Prudential PLC bought a new position in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 9,867 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $443,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in IonQ by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420,037 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $199,753,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in IonQ by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,074,301 shares of the company’s stock valued at $361,624,000 after purchasing an additional 1,452,463 shares in the last quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP raised its position in IonQ by 286.1% during the third quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 1,937,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in IonQ by 19.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IONQ shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded IonQ from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of IonQ from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $48.50 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the sale, the insider owned 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,984,353.30. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.34, for a total transaction of $93,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 83,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,799,326.42. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

IonQ Stock Up 10.4%

Shares of NYSE:IONQ opened at $62.70 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.40 billion, a PE ratio of -223.93 and a beta of 3.18. The company’s fifty day moving average is $47.83 and its 200 day moving average is $44.25. IonQ, Inc. has a 52 week low of $25.89 and a 52 week high of $84.64.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $64.67 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.75 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.IonQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 754.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 EPS for the current year.

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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.