IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 5.1% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares shot up 5.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $32.37 and last traded at $32.21. 24,277,856 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 163% from the average session volume of 9,235,802 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

IonQ Trading Up 13.3 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $17.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.14. The company has a market cap of $7.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.05 and a beta of 1.89.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $6,954,953.76. This trade represents a 1.39 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,000 shares of company stock worth $972,331. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 3.6% in the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after acquiring an additional 3,736 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,288 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 40.6% during the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.