HighTower Advisors LLC Has $3.54 Million Stock Position in IonQ, Inc. $IONQ

HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) by 15.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 78,948 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 10,561 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC’s holdings in IonQ were worth $3,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420,037 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,878 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 12.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,008,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,992,000 after purchasing an additional 333,653 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,327,000 after purchasing an additional 636,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lansdowne Partners UK LLP raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 286.1% in the third quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 1,937,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,127,000 after purchasing an additional 1,435,394 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IonQ Price Performance

IonQ stock opened at $72.07 on Friday. IonQ, Inc. has a one year low of $25.89 and a one year high of $84.64. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $43.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $43.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.90 billion, a P/E ratio of -257.38 and a beta of 3.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The company had revenue of $64.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.75 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.14) earnings per share. IonQ’s revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,984,353.30. This trade represents a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.34, for a total value of $93,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,799,326.42. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IONQ. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on IonQ from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.63.

IonQ 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. 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.