IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped up prior to trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $30.00. The stock had previously closed at $30.25, but opened at $31.99. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. IonQ shares last traded at $31.02, with a volume of 23,483,565 shares.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. DA Davidson initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total transaction of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 592,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,519,679.50. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 109,507 shares of company stock worth $2,279,308. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in IonQ by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,640,000 after buying an additional 199,360 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in IonQ by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in IonQ by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after buying an additional 135,851 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in IonQ by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after buying an additional 41,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new position in IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,036,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IonQ Trading Up 7.4 %

The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of -40.10 and a beta of 2.49. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $34.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.70.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.56 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.