IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 2.9% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price traded up 2.9% during trading on Friday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $60.00 to $70.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $59.30 and last traded at $59.0740. 32,401,500 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the average session volume of 24,573,918 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.43.

Several other research analysts have also commented on IONQ. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Benchmark increased their price target on IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.11.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $715,728.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,181,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $52,444,658.40. The trade was a 1.35% 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 Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $185,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 114,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,081,757.60. This trade represents a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 113,622 shares of company stock valued at $4,931,896. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Stone House Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 700.0% during the third quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 400 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 112.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the last quarter. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the third quarter worth $29,000. UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the third quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Archer Investment Corp boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 119.3% in the 2nd quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average of $61.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.64. The stock has a market cap of $20.52 billion, a PE ratio of -11.04 and a beta of 2.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The firm had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 188.98% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The business’s revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.