Zacks Research Upgrades IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) to “Hold”

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on IONQ. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wolfe Research began coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. DA Davidson downgraded IonQ from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $35.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $61.44.

IonQ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IONQ opened at $55.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.24 billion, a PE ratio of -27.55 and a beta of 2.59. The business has a 50-day moving average of $61.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.56. IonQ has a 12 month low of $15.85 and a 12 month high of $84.64.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.24) by ($3.34). The firm had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 67.11% and a negative net margin of 885.21%. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $886,934.40. Following the transaction, the executive owned 532,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,648,150.40. This trade represents a 3.61% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $715,728.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,181,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $52,444,658.40. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 113,622 shares of company stock worth $4,931,896 over the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Archer Investment Corp lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 700.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $31,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IonQ Company Profile

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.