IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 5.6% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• IonQ, Inc. shares increased by 5.6%, with trading volumes significantly up to 50 million shares compared to the average of 22 million.
• Despite the stock's recent rise, analysts have mixed opinions, with seven analysts rating it as a "Buy" and five as "Hold," underlining a consensus target price of $55.56.
• IonQ reported a quarterly loss of $0.70 EPS, missing estimates, while revenue rose to $20.69 million, marking an 81.6% increase year-over-year.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shares shot up 5.6% on Friday . The stock traded as high as $71.30 and last traded at $70.53. 50,725,192 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 122% from the average session volume of 22,856,617 shares. The stock had previously closed at $66.81.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on IONQ shares. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday, September 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. DA Davidson downgraded IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, B. Riley lifted their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $58.33.

IonQ Trading Up 2.1%

The business's fifty day simple moving average is $44.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $36.60.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.23 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 885.21% and a negative return on equity of 67.11%. The business's revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.18) earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $185,370.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 114,454 shares in the company, valued at $5,081,757.60. This trade represents a 3.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $886,934.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive owned 532,616 shares in the company, valued at $23,648,150.40. This represents a 3.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,047 shares of company stock worth $15,645,611 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Quantinno Capital Management LP bought a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $283,000. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $883,000. Voloridge Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $7,081,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 29.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 362,603 shares of the company's stock worth $15,146,000 after buying an additional 82,499 shares during the period. Finally, Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $316,000. 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.