IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 4.2% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was up 4.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $45.54 and last traded at $45.25. Approximately 20,531,266 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average session volume of 25,398,105 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on IONQ shares. Northland Securities raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of IonQ in a report on Friday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, IonQ has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $69.92.

IonQ Stock Up 3.0%

The stock has a market capitalization of $17.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.96 and a beta of 3.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.13.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.56) by $0.23. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 21.75% and a negative net margin of 553.27%.The company had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $66.47 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.70) EPS. The business’s revenue was up 286.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, insider John W. Raymond sold 3,815 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $209,863.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 80,148 shares in the company, valued at $4,408,941.48. This trade represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 2,757 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total transaction of $151,690.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 62,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,444,692.16. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,329 shares of company stock valued at $513,216. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Swedbank AB bought a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth $2,708,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at $3,271,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 96.5% during the 1st quarter. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund now owns 125,556 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,620,000 after purchasing an additional 61,656 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 30.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 62,184 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,790,000 after purchasing an additional 14,465 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Forsta AP Fonden acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter worth $5,488,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.