IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 22.4% - Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) rose 22.4% on Thursday . The company traded as high as $40.07 and last traded at $41.07. Approximately 23,349,810 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 6% from the average daily volume of 22,131,537 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.54.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of 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 target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.33.

IonQ Stock Up 35.3%

The business's 50-day moving average is $26.94 and its 200-day moving average is $31.45. The company has a market capitalization of $10.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -55.64 and a beta of 2.46.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. The trade was a 1.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the purchase, the director now owns 135,047 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 over the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in IonQ by 0.6% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company's stock worth $474,460,000 after acquiring an additional 123,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 45,942 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company's stock worth $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in IonQ by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,809,000 after acquiring an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 2.0% during 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 in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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