IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 14.2% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) rose 14.2% during trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $34.36 and last traded at $34.7480. Approximately 13,378,408 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 21,148,904 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.43.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Tuesday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 target price on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $75.91.

IonQ Stock Up 15.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $12.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.55 and a beta of 2.63. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $47.65 and a 200-day moving average of $51.13.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The business 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 revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total value of $4,689,000.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 432,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,285,364.24. The trade was a 18.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,496.53. This represents a 45.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 125,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,992,000. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Archer Investment Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 119.3% during the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC raised its position in IonQ by 700.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. lifted its stake in IonQ by 485.7% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of IonQ by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Finally, Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of IonQ by 3,800.0% in the 4th quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.