IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 16.4% After Analyst Upgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 16.4% on Friday after Craig Hallum raised their price target on the stock from $22.00 to $45.00. Craig Hallum currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $44.09 and last traded at $43.94. 15,080,684 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 46% from the average session volume of 10,337,357 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.76.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped 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. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $28.60.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the 2nd 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 acquired a new position in IonQ in the second quarter valued at $67,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the third quarter valued at about $72,000. Mosley Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the second quarter worth about $88,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $25.74 and a 200-day moving average of $13.99. The stock has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.84 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. IonQ's revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

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.