Insider Selling: Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) CFO Sells $65,195.40 in Stock

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) CFO Jeffrey Bertelsen sold 3,860 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,067 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,838,651.63. The trade was a 2.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Rigetti Computing Stock Performance

Shares of Rigetti Computing stock opened at $17.91 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.98 billion, a PE ratio of -19.90 and a beta of 1.99. Rigetti Computing, Inc. has a 52 week low of $12.53 and a 52 week high of $58.15. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $17.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.73.

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

Institutional Trading of Rigetti Computing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in RGTI. Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Rigetti Computing during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Rigetti Computing by 403.2% in the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,087 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 871 shares in the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors grew its position in Rigetti Computing by 454.3% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 1,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 954 shares in the last quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC increased its stake in Rigetti Computing by 138.4% in the 4th quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,218 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 707 shares during the last quarter. Finally, EFG International AG purchased a new stake in Rigetti Computing in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 35.38% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Rigetti Computing

Here are the key news stories impacting Rigetti Computing this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rigetti’s second-quarter revenue rose 185.3% year over year to $5.14 million, driven primarily by Novera hardware sales. The company also cited a U.S. Department of Commerce letter of intent for up to $100 million in quantum-computing research support and commercial deliveries involving partners such as Nvidia and HPE. Rigetti operating structure announcement
• Positive Sentiment: The company created a dedicated Systems Delivery organization to support growing demand for on-premises quantum systems. David Rivas became chief operating officer, while Andrew Bestwick became chief technology officer and will focus on processor, chip and hardware development. Investors may view the structure as a way to improve execution and advance Rigetti’s 108-qubit roadmap. Systems Delivery organization announcement
• Positive Sentiment: Several quantum-computing names, including Rigetti, IonQ and Infleqtion, advanced together without company-specific news. The coordinated move suggests renewed speculative interest in the quantum-computing theme and helped lift RGTI. Quantum computing stocks rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Board member Dr. Ray Johnson is expected to resign, adding to investor attention on governance and management changes. The report did not indicate a strategic shift tied to the resignation. Board member resignation
• Negative Sentiment: Although revenue growth was strong, Rigetti’s net loss widened to $52.61 million from $39.65 million a year earlier. Articles also flagged customer concentration and a valuation exceeding roughly 100 times sales, making the stock particularly sensitive to delays in the next system delivery and execution setbacks. Rigetti second-quarter revenue and losses
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded RGTI from “hold” to “strong sell,” reinforcing concerns about profitability and the stock’s elevated sales multiple.
• Negative Sentiment: The CFO, COO and CTO sold shares to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards. The sales represented small portions of their remaining holdings, but no insider purchases were reported, which may weigh on sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on RGTI shares. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Rigetti Computing from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush began coverage on Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $40.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Rigetti Computing from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on Rigetti Computing from $33.00 to $27.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.67.

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.