IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 0.5% - Here's Why

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shot up 0.5% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $41.60 and last traded at $41.77. 11,822,929 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 47,911,668 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

IonQ Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.43 billion, a PE ratio of -48.09 and a beta of 2.43. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $35.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $18.40.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total transaction of $188,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 615,533 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,676,178.76. This trade represents a 1.91 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 79,098 shares of company stock valued at $1,909,323 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in IonQ by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,107,000 after buying an additional 135,851 shares during the last quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the third quarter valued at $5,036,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $3,749,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in IonQ by 34.2% in the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 111,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,631,000. 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.