Strategic Advocates LLC Acquires 28,118 Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Key Points

• Strategic Advocates LLC significantly increased its stake in IonQ, Inc. by 136.1% in Q1, acquiring an additional 28,118 shares to hold a total of 48,775 shares valued at approximately $1.08 million.
• Insiders, including CFO Thomas G. Kramer and Peter Hume Chapman, sold a total of 9,191,850 shares over the last 90 days, indicating substantial insider trading activity.
• IonQ's stock has a Moderate Buy rating from analysts, with a consensus price target of $45.00, and the company reported better-than-expected earnings for the most recent quarter.

Strategic Advocates LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) by 136.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,775 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 28,118 shares during the period. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in IonQ were worth $1,076,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $1,255,000. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 9.1% during the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 131,846 shares of the company's stock worth $5,507,000 after purchasing an additional 10,982 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in IonQ by 1,310.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company's stock worth $103,095,000 after purchasing an additional 2,293,231 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $260,000. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $6,097,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Benchmark boosted their target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.00.

IonQ Trading Down 4.3%

Shares of NYSE IONQ traded down $1.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $38.14. 19,969,313 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,793,778. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.81 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.34. IonQ, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 63.35% and a negative net margin of 753.20%. The company had revenue of $7.57 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.19) EPS. IonQ's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 47,478 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $47.70, for a total value of $2,264,700.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 555,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,504,791.20. This represents a 7.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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 on Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total value of $59,787,628.23. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,585,836.97. This represents a 79.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 9,191,850 shares of company stock valued at $360,519,930. Insiders own 5.20% 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.