IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 5.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) were up 5.7% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $35.81 and last traded at $35.75. Approximately 9,472,959 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average daily volume of 9,919,846 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.83.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $22.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.91. The company has a market cap of $9.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -44.80 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results 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 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 company earned ($0.22) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Quest Partners LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the second quarter valued at $67,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in IonQ during the third quarter worth about $72,000. Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 2nd quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the second quarter valued at about $88,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.