American Alpha Advisors LLC Buys New Shares in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Key Points

• American Alpha Advisors LLC has acquired a new stake in IonQ, Inc., purchasing 10,000 shares valued at approximately $221,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Vanguard Group and Invesco Ltd., have increased their stakes in IonQ recently, indicating growing institutional interest.
• The stock has received mixed ratings from analysts, with a consensus price target of $45.00 and a current rating of "Moderate Buy" amidst a backdrop of significant insider selling.

American Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 10,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $221,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in IonQ by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,460,000 after purchasing an additional 123,839 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in IonQ by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,809,000 after purchasing an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in IonQ by 101.4% in the first quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 927,760 shares of the company's stock valued at $20,476,000 after purchasing an additional 467,084 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in IonQ by 439.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 857,078 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,800,000 after purchasing an additional 698,146 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UNICOM Systems Inc. grew its position in IonQ by 77.4% during the first quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. now owns 768,900 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,970,000 after acquiring an additional 335,429 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on IONQ shares. Benchmark boosted their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. DA Davidson downgraded IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 17,776 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.28, for a total value of $733,793.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 537,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,203,686.40. This represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 1,497,311 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total value of $59,787,628.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,585,836.97. This represents a 79.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,209,626 shares of company stock worth $361,253,723 over the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

IonQ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE IONQ opened at $41.90 on Friday. IonQ, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.54 and a 1-year high of $54.74. The business has a 50-day moving average of $41.42 and a 200-day moving average of $34.29. The company has a market capitalization of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.85 and a beta of 2.54.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.57). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 67.11% and a negative net margin of 885.21%. The company had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.23 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.18) EPS. IonQ's quarterly revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal 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.

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