IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 12.4% – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price rose 12.4% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $55.32 and last traded at $54.68. Approximately 33,062,909 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the average daily volume of 24,470,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.65.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONQ. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, November 20th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $66.00.

IonQ Trading Up 12.4%

The company has a market capitalization of $19.00 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.22 and a beta of 2.62. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $59.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.23.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The firm had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The company’s revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. Equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $715,728.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,181,186 shares in the company, valued at $52,444,658.40. This represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $185,370.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,454 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,081,757.60. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 149,044 shares of company stock worth $6,920,244. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 28.4% during the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Hilltop National Bank grew its position in shares of IonQ by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 225 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 5,679 shares of the company’s stock valued at $349,000 after acquiring an additional 235 shares during the last quarter. Lauer Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 5.5% in the 3rd quarter. Lauer Wealth LLC now owns 4,852 shares of the company’s stock valued at $298,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in IonQ by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $153,000 after acquiring an additional 261 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.