IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 6.8% – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price shot up 6.8% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $51.89 and last traded at $50.80. 23,070,447 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 33% from the average session volume of 17,331,684 shares. The stock had previously closed at $47.56.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONQ. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research raised shares of IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley increased their price objective on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price target on IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $75.91.

IonQ Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.04 and a 200 day moving average of $51.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $17.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.50 and a beta of 2.63.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The company had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $54.81 per share, with a total value of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,413 shares in the company, valued at $351,496.53. This trade represents a 45.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 125,000 shares of company stock worth $5,992,000. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. increased its stake in IonQ by 28.4% during the 2nd quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its holdings in IonQ by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after purchasing an additional 235 shares during the period. Lauer Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lauer Wealth LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. 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. 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.