IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 7% Higher – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) rose 7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $47.49 and last traded at $46.12. Approximately 14,337,494 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 17,619,309 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.10.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, 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 for the company. One 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

IonQ Stock Up 10.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $10.34 billion, a PE ratio of -58.97 and a beta of 2.49. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $16.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.22) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 110,223 shares of company stock worth $2,286,983 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its holdings in IonQ by 1,348.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $72,000. 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.