IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 1% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• IonQ's Stock Performance: IonQ's shares increased by 1% during mid-day trading, with a last traded price of $44.45, although trading volume dropped significantly by 75% compared to the average.
• Analyst Ratings: Several analysts issued positive ratings, with target prices ranging from $45.00 to $61.00; IonQ currently holds an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.78.
• Quarterly Earnings Results: IonQ reported a quarterly loss of ($0.70) EPS, missing expectations, but achieved $20.69 million in revenue, surpassing analysts' forecasts, and saw an 81.6% increase compared to the prior year.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s stock price shot up 1% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $44.70 and last traded at $44.45. 5,416,048 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 21,983,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on IONQ shares. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. DA Davidson cut IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Benchmark upped their target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.78.

IonQ Stock Up 18.4%

The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $35.02. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.72 and a beta of 2.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total value of $2,700,651.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 473,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,793,489.64. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $715,728.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,181,186 shares in the company, valued at $52,444,658.40. This 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 6,547,518 shares of company stock valued at $254,180,433 in the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in IonQ by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,767,446 shares of the company's stock worth $1,064,257,000 after buying an additional 3,269,482 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 15.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,338,456 shares of the company's stock valued at $229,422,000 after buying an additional 705,301 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 15.1% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 5,255,681 shares of the company's stock worth $225,837,000 after buying an additional 688,663 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in IonQ by 648.5% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company's stock worth $114,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,058 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the second quarter worth $114,767,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

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.