Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Trading 2.1% Higher – Still a Buy?

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares traded up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $15.32 and last traded at $15.18. 14,069,217 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 31,409,135 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

RGTI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, July 27th. They set a “buy” rating and a $25.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Rigetti Computing from a “sell (d-)” rating to a “sell (e+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $31.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Tuesday, May 12th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Rigetti Computing in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 target price for the company. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Rigetti Computing presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.67.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $16.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $17.68. The stock has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a P/E ratio of -16.87 and a beta of 2.01.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05). Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 2,189.54% and a negative return on equity of 17.50%. The company had revenue of $5.14 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.09 million. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Rigetti Computing

In other Rigetti Computing news, CFO Jeffrey Bertelsen sold 3,860 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.89, for a total value of $65,195.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,067 shares in the company, valued at $2,838,651.63. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO David Rivas sold 9,038 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.79, for a total value of $151,748.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 316,907 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,320,868.53. The trade was a 2.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 225,821 shares of company stock worth $4,662,494. 1.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada increased its position in shares of Rigetti Computing by 106.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 220,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,748,000 after purchasing an additional 113,644 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Rigetti Computing by 138.9% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 81,047 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 47,115 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Rigetti Computing by 25.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 112,409 shares of the company’s stock worth $890,000 after buying an additional 22,770 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Rigetti Computing by 197.8% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 25,592 shares of the company’s stock worth $203,000 after buying an additional 16,998 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC bought a new position in Rigetti Computing during the first quarter valued at approximately $3,115,000. 35.38% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.