IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) saw an uptick in trading volume on Friday . 6,828,712 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 17% from the previous session’s volume of 8,239,586 shares.The stock last traded at $25.37 and had previously closed at $26.16.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $13.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $9.61. The company has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.98 and a beta of 1.89.

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

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,658 shares in the company, valued at $10,519,679.50. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 66,000 shares of company stock worth $972,331 in the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,824,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,062,000 after buying an additional 918,265 shares in the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,036,000. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 27.3% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,654,531 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,661,000 after purchasing an additional 569,906 shares in the last quarter. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $3,749,000. Finally, Gagnon Securities LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,410,000. 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.