IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Hits New 52-Week High - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• IonQ Inc. shares reached a new 52-week high, trading as high as $84.64, with significant volume of over 30 million shares exchanged.
• Multiple analysts have provided mixed ratings on IonQ, with seven ratings called 'Buy' and a target price range varying from $35 to $100.
• IonQ reported a revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, beating expectations, despite a significant net margin loss and an EPS miss.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shares reached a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $84.64 and last traded at $83.85, with a volume of 30416676 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $70.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. DA Davidson cut shares of 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, August 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $58.33.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company's 50-day moving average price is $53.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.60 billion, a PE ratio of -41.31 and a beta of 2.60.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $17.23 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total transaction of $2,700,651.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 473,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,793,489.64. This trade represents a 12.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $715,728.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,181,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $52,444,658.40. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 178,876 shares of company stock worth $7,930,390 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its stake in IonQ by 203.5% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 450,871 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,729,000 after purchasing an additional 302,309 shares in the last quarter. Hilltop National Bank increased its stake in IonQ by 112.5% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop National Bank now owns 425 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 225 shares in the last quarter. Veracity Capital LLC increased its stake in IonQ by 13.3% during the 3rd quarter. Veracity Capital LLC now owns 8,765 shares of the company's stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in IonQ by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,480 shares of the company's stock valued at $153,000 after purchasing an additional 261 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in IonQ by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,988,000 after purchasing an additional 1,609 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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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