Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. Buys 31,418 Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Key Points

• Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in IonQ, Inc. by 59.4% during the first quarter, now holding a total of 84,342 shares valued at approximately $1.86 million.
• IonQ's recent earnings report showed a loss per share of ($0.70), significantly missing analysts' estimate of ($0.13), despite an 81.6% year-over-year increase in revenue to $20.69 million.
• Insider selling activity was notable, with a Director and CFO selling shares totaling over $1 million in the last few months, indicating potential concerns or shifts in confidence among company leaders.

Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) by 59.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 84,342 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 31,418 shares during the quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc.'s holdings in IonQ were worth $1,861,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. ORG Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 348.0% in the 1st quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 780.1% in the 1st quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on IONQ shares. Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.00.

IonQ Price Performance

Shares of IONQ traded down $0.80 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,270,508 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,818,714. The company has a market cap of $10.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.01 and a beta of 2.54. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.37. IonQ, Inc. has a 52-week low of $6.54 and a 52-week high of $54.74.

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

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 17,776 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.28, for a total transaction of $733,793.28. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 537,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $22,203,686.40. This trade represents a 3.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 1,497,311 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total transaction of $59,787,628.23. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares in the company, valued at $15,585,836.97. This trade represents a 79.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 9,209,626 shares of company stock valued at $361,253,723. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

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.