IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Sees Large Volume Increase - Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shares saw unusually-strong trading volume on Tuesday . Approximately 5,316,617 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 15% from the previous session's volume of 6,285,681 shares.The stock last traded at $14.33 and had previously closed at $14.76.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark reduced their price target on IonQ from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 12th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, October 2nd. Finally, Craig Hallum cut their price objective on IonQ from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.07 and a beta of 2.05. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $8.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.17.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 34.02% and a negative net margin of 525.13%. The firm had revenue of $11.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $8.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.16) earnings per share. IonQ's revenue was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ 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 owns 648,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,954,953.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 31,125 shares of company stock valued at $377,660. Insiders own 11.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Carnegie Investment Counsel acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $5,036,000. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in IonQ by 4.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 36,495 shares of the company's stock worth $365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,400 shares during the period. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL acquired a new position in IonQ in the 1st quarter valued at $185,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,906,731 shares of the company's stock worth $221,864,000 after purchasing an additional 193,924 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank grew its position in shares of IonQ by 14.8% in the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 343,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,433,000 after purchasing an additional 44,200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.