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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was up 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 changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 44,682,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.25.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum increased 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 investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.72, for a total transaction of $98,184.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 648,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,953.76. This represents a 1.39 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value 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 trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 109,507 shares of company stock valued at $2,279,308 in the last 90 days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $216,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Arete Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $91,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in IonQ by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,640,000 after purchasing an additional 199,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $34.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.70. The firm has a market cap of $7.03 billion, a PE ratio of -40.10 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The business 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share 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.