IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 6.5% on Analyst Upgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares were up 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $30.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $33.34 and last traded at $32.23. Approximately 42,498,737 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 44,682,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.25.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on IONQ. Craig Hallum upped 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, December 20th. Benchmark raised their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped 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. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 592,658 shares in the company, valued at $10,519,679.50. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 109,507 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,308 over the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in IonQ by 1,348.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in IonQ by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of -41.25 and a beta of 2.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $17.45.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. IonQ’s quarterly revenue 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 research analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.