Benjamin Edwards Inc. Acquires 36,946 Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its stake in IonQ, Inc. by 70%, bringing its total holdings to 89,700 shares valued at approximately $1.98 million.
• Several institutional investors have also significantly raised their positions in IonQ during the 1st quarter, with Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management and Wolverine Asset Management increasing their holdings by 101.4% and 352.4%, respectively.
• Despite a loss of $0.70 per share reported in the latest earnings, IonQ’s revenue rose 81.6% year-over-year, totaling $20.69 million.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. boosted its position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) by 70.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 89,700 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 36,946 shares during the quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in IonQ were worth $1,980,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 101.4% in the 1st 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 period. Wolverine Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 352.4% in the 1st quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 13,508 shares of the company's stock valued at $298,000 after purchasing an additional 10,522 shares during the period. CenterBook Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 1st quarter valued at $1,422,000. Gagnon Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 1,831.8% in the 1st quarter. Gagnon Securities LLC now owns 111,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,457,000 after purchasing an additional 105,584 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 255.8% in the 1st quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 761,066 shares of the company's stock valued at $16,797,000 after purchasing an additional 547,155 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 216,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.11, for a total value of $8,231,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 718,516 shares in the company, valued at $27,382,644.76. This trade represents a 23.11% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 2,597,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total value of $104,783,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 711,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at $28,721,555.58. The trade was a 78.49% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 9,209,626 shares of company stock worth $361,253,723 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

IonQ Price Performance

IONQ stock traded down $1.09 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.94. 4,877,707 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 22,930,717. The company has a market cap of $10.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.84 and a beta of 2.54. The firm's 50-day moving average is $41.70 and its 200-day moving average is $34.40. IonQ, Inc. has a 12 month low of $6.54 and a 12 month high of $54.74.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.23 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 885.21% and a negative return on equity of 67.11%. IonQ's revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Benchmark raised their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.