IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 8.4% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $52.74 and last traded at $52.53. 22,239,603 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 13% from the average session volume of 25,642,016 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.44.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on IONQ. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen lowered IonQ from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price target on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Northland Securities initiated coverage on IonQ in a research note on Monday, April 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 price target for the company. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $68.63.

IonQ Trading Up 8.4%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $38.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.21. The company has a market cap of $19.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -187.61 and a beta of 3.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a net margin of 174.88% and a negative return on equity of 23.20%. The company had revenue of $64.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. IonQ’s revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total transaction of $188,272.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 139,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,984,353.30. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.38 per share, with a total value of $115,140.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 9,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $361,270.94. The trade was a 46.78% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 12,354 shares of company stock worth $504,428. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 18.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420,037 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at $199,753,000. Marex Group plc lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 419.1% in the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,083,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,866 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,962,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 219.6% in the fourth quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. now owns 3,195,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,396,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196,017 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.