IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 3.9% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) rose 3.9% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $58.18 and last traded at $57.4180. Approximately 26,163,364 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 2% from the average daily volume of 25,631,139 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.26.

Key Stories Impacting IonQ

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Quantum-computing stocks including IonQ were hit hard Friday afternoon as the entire group fell, suggesting sector-wide risk-off sentiment is weighing on shares. Quantum Computing Stock Shock: IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc. Fall 6% to 9%
• Negative Sentiment: Tech stocks are broadly falling today, adding extra pressure to IonQ as investors pull back from speculative growth names. Why IonQ Stock Is Plummeting Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Earlier coverage focused on IonQ’s strong Q1 results, including surging revenue, a growing backlog, and expanding enterprise adoption, which had supported bullish sentiment before today’s selloff. The Zacks Analyst Blog IonQ, D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti
• Neutral Sentiment: IonQ has also been highlighted as a leading quantum stock, but the shares remain highly sentiment-driven and volatile because the company is still not profitable. IonQ and 5 More Stocks to Play Quantum Fever

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson cut their price objective on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of IonQ from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $48.50 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.63.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $19.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -185.61 and a beta of 3.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $38.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $64.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.75 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -1.95 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The stock was bought at an average price of $38.38 per share, with a total value of $115,140.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 9,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $361,270.94. This represents a 46.78% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of the business’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 owned 83,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,799,326.42. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 12,354 shares of company stock valued at $504,428. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in IonQ by 104.0% in the 1st quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 54,884 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,582,000 after purchasing an additional 27,974 shares in the last quarter. SummitTX Capital L.P. purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 1st quarter worth $452,000. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 1st quarter worth $663,000. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 1st quarter worth $294,000. Finally, Granahan Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in IonQ by 36.8% in the 1st quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 146,012 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,210,000 after purchasing an additional 39,290 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.