IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 0.2% – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price traded up 0.2% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $43.97 and last traded at $41.35. 7,713,058 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 31,709,293 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.27.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average of $39.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.81. The company has a market capitalization of $8.77 billion, a PE ratio of -50.06 and a beta of 2.41.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The business had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. IonQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the firm’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 owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 4.7% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,640,000 after buying an additional 199,360 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after acquiring an additional 75,596 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in IonQ by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,645,672 shares of the company’s stock valued at $68,740,000 after purchasing an additional 31,638 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 28.0% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 905,545 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,825,000 after buying an additional 198,129 shares during the period. Finally, Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $32,060,000. 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.