IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 5.8% – What’s Next?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) were up 5.8% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $44.59 and last traded at $43.87. Approximately 9,025,229 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 34,233,129 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.47.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on IONQ shares. Craig Hallum upped their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. 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 target price for the company. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company 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 $8.95 billion, a PE ratio of -51.08 and a beta of 2.41. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $39.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.67.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % 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, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 in the last 90 days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in IonQ by 9.2% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $5,036,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in IonQ during the third quarter worth $3,749,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in IonQ by 34.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after buying an additional 111,435 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the third quarter worth about $1,631,000. 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.