IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares shot up 0.5% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.60 and last traded at $39.04. 6,541,976 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 83% from the average session volume of 38,325,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark increased their target price on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted 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. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. 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 research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Up 2.0 %

The firm has a market cap of $8.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.95 and a beta of 2.43. The business’s 50 day moving average is $37.88 and its 200-day moving average is $20.40.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the sale, the executive now owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 44,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,314,652. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. UNICOM Systems Inc. acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $18,106,000. Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 68.0% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 18,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 7,571 shares during the period. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $92,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. acquired a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter worth about $94,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR acquired a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $936,000. 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.