IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 0.5% – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price was up 0.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $40.60 and last traded at $39.04. Approximately 6,541,976 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 83% from the average daily volume of 38,325,156 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.86.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on IONQ shares. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.86 and a beta of 2.43. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $38.22 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.67.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. City State Bank bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. Hemington Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc increased its position in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.