IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $55.00. The stock had previously closed at $44.39, but opened at $46.38. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ shares last traded at $43.14, with a volume of 11,300,953 shares.

IONQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson decreased their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $41.43.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 3,581,193 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.13, for a total transaction of $136,550,889.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares in the company, valued at $14,883,244.77. This trade represents a 90.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 25,696 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.46, for a total value of $1,039,660.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 62,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,513,172.90. The trade was a 29.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 9,094,201 shares of company stock valued at $355,891,729. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. bought a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $1,255,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in IonQ by 120.0% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 34,033 shares of the company's stock worth $1,422,000 after buying an additional 18,566 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN increased its holdings in IonQ by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 255,061 shares of the company's stock worth $10,654,000 after buying an additional 77,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in IonQ by 219.5% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 5,112 shares of the company's stock worth $214,000 after buying an additional 3,512 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Trading Up 1.4%

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $38.76 and a 200 day moving average of $34.13. The company has a market capitalization of $11.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.60 and a beta of 2.55.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. IonQ's revenue for the quarter was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.