IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 6.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares rose 6.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $30.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $33.34 and last traded at $32.23. Approximately 42,498,737 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 44,682,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.25.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price objective 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,507 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,308 over the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% in the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 890 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in IonQ by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $216,000. Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $72,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IonQ Trading Up 7.4 %

The company has a 50 day moving average of $34.12 and a 200 day moving average of $17.63. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -40.10 and a beta of 2.43.

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

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.