IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 1.1% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price traded up 1.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $39.73 and last traded at $39.44. 12,931,968 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 24,604,213 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONQ has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut IonQ from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $75.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 price objective 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.92.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $15.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.46 and a beta of 3.30. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.56.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.23. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 22.29% and a negative net margin of 553.27%.The company had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.70) EPS. IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 286.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Gabrielle B. Toledano sold 2,757 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $151,662.57. Following the sale, the director owned 11,154 shares in the company, valued at approximately $613,581.54. This trade represents a 19.82% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 3,815 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total transaction of $209,863.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,408,941.48. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 9,329 shares of company stock worth $513,216 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Swedbank AB bought a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,708,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $3,271,000. Fjarde AP Fonden Fourth Swedish National Pension Fund increased its stake 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 during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 62,184 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,790,000 after buying an additional 14,465 shares during the period. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ during the second quarter valued at about $981,000. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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. 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.