IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 3% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded up 3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $51.02 and last traded at $50.9510. 16,686,314 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 1% from the average session volume of 16,507,973 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.45.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. B. Riley increased their price target on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price for the company. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.91.

IonQ Stock Up 3.0%

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $49.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $51.10. The firm has a market cap of $17.70 billion, a PE ratio of -9.52 and a beta of 2.63.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The firm had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total transaction of $4,689,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 432,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,285,364.24. This represents a 18.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 6,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,496.53. The trade was a 45.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 125,000 shares of company stock worth $5,992,000. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,354,706 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,805,314,000 after acquiring an additional 4,587,260 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,878 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in IonQ by 15.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,338,456 shares of the company’s stock worth $229,422,000 after purchasing an additional 705,301 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 12.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,008,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,992,000 after buying an additional 333,653 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,327,000 after buying an additional 636,482 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.