IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 0.5% Higher – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price shot up 0.5% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.60 and last traded at $41.77. 11,822,929 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 47,911,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, 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 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.09 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $35.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.62.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The business had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.22) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 79,098 shares of company stock valued at $1,909,323 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4.7% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,640,000 after buying an additional 199,360 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew 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 worth $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in IonQ by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 41,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,036,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.