Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Up 6.1% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shot up 6.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $21.23 and last traded at $20.63. 46,073,097 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 36,015,238 shares. The stock had previously closed at $19.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen cut shares of Rigetti Computing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 23rd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Rigetti Computing from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.18.

Rigetti Computing Stock Up 6.1%

The stock has a market cap of $6.86 billion, a P/E ratio of -23.71 and a beta of 1.88. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $19.08 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $20.25.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. The company had revenue of $4.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.09 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 2,789.71% and a negative return on equity of 10.40%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 198.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.05) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rigetti Computing

In other Rigetti Computing news, Director Ray O. Johnson sold 122,188 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.30, for a total transaction of $2,602,604.40. Following the sale, the director owned 171,273 shares in the company, valued at $3,648,114.90. This represents a 41.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO David Rivas sold 499,328 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.40, for a total value of $12,682,931.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 325,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,279,003. The trade was a 60.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 643,957 shares of company stock worth $15,800,744. Corporate insiders own 1.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rigetti Computing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in RGTI. Heritage Wealth Advisors boosted its stake in Rigetti Computing by 454.3% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares during the period. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 138.4% during the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 707 shares in the last quarter. PeakShares LLC purchased a new position in Rigetti Computing during the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. EFG International AG bought a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 320.5% in the fourth quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,312 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 35.38% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Rigetti Computing Company Profile

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti’s offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.