Lazard Asset Management LLC Invests $303,000 in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Lazard Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 7,282 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $303,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in IONQ. Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $215,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 625.3% during the fourth quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 18,764 shares of the company's stock worth $784,000 after purchasing an additional 16,177 shares during the last quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 13,100 shares of the company's stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 1,100 shares during the last quarter. Magnus Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $259,000. Finally, Veracity Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $230,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their price objective on IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.33.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $21.81 per share, with a total value of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $372,272.79. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 572,568 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,632,587.76. The trade was a 3.38% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company's stock.

IonQ Stock Up 37.1%

Shares of IONQ stock opened at $45.97 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $31.67. IonQ, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The company has a market cap of $10.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.75 and a beta of 2.46.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The company had revenue of $7.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. IonQ's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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