IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 2.1% - Still a Buy?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) were up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $42.05 and last traded at $40.94. Approximately 6,815,965 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 65% from the average daily volume of 19,365,234 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.10.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and issued a $50.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.71.

IonQ Price Performance

The company's fifty day simple moving average is $37.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.50 billion, a PE ratio of -29.49 and a beta of 2.55.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 63.35% and a negative net margin of 753.20%. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.19) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 1,497,311 shares of the firm's 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 of the company's stock, valued at $15,585,836.97. This trade represents a 79.32% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Wendy Thomas sold 16,696 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.43, for a total transaction of $658,323.28. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 61,145 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,410,947.35. The trade was a 21.45% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 8,972,201 shares of company stock valued at $350,540,009. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,460,000 after purchasing an additional 123,839 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,593,000 after acquiring an additional 45,942 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company's stock worth $103,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293,231 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company's stock worth $80,809,000 after purchasing an additional 216,752 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in IonQ by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,645,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,740,000 after purchasing an additional 31,638 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.