IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 3.5% - Here's Why

Key Points

• IonQ's stock price increased by 3.5% to $41.24, with a significant trading volume decline of 67% compared to its average daily volume.
• Major financial institutions have issued positive outlooks for IonQ, with multiple analysts maintaining a "buy" rating and a consensus target price of $45.00.
• Insider selling has occurred, with CEO Masi Niccolo De selling 2.6 million shares, indicating potential concerns about stock performance despite the positive market sentiment.

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 3.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.34 and last traded at $41.24. Approximately 7,504,473 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 67% from the average daily volume of 22,908,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.86.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark raised 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. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $34.26. The stock has a market cap of $10.93 billion, a PE ratio of -28.08 and a beta of 2.54.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $7.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.19) earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 2,597,500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.34, for a total transaction of $104,783,150.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 711,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,721,555.58. This represents a 78.49% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $136,550,889.09. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares in the company, valued at $14,883,244.77. The trade was a 90.17% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 9,191,850 shares of company stock valued at $360,519,930. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sigma Planning Corp acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the second quarter valued at approximately $555,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the second quarter worth $216,000. Mission Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in IonQ during the second quarter valued at $1,383,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in IonQ during the second quarter valued at $1,439,000. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 38.2% during the second quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC now owns 18,673 shares of the company's stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 5,165 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.

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