Needham & Company LLC Reiterates Buy Rating for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $80.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 35.42% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Zacks Research upgraded IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. B. Riley upped their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.11.

IonQ Trading Up 2.9%

IONQ stock traded up $1.64 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $59.07. 32,627,778 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 31,936,684. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.52 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.04 and a beta of 2.59. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $61.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $46.88. IonQ has a 12 month low of $17.88 and a 12 month high of $84.64.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($3.14). IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The business had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of IonQ 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 $886,934.40. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 532,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,648,150.40. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $185,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 114,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,081,757.60. This represents a 3.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,622 shares of company stock valued at $4,931,896. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 18.5% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,354,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,314,000 after acquiring an additional 4,587,260 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the second quarter valued at about $114,767,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 648.5% during the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,058 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 262.8% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 576,391 shares of the company’s stock valued at $24,768,000 after buying an additional 930,490 shares during the period. Finally, Amazon Com Inc. acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $36,705,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.