IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 9% Higher - Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report)'s share price shot up 9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $42.98 and last traded at $42.30. 8,665,948 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 35,792,809 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.81.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -52.41 and a beta of 2.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.81 and a 200-day moving average of $21.53.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. IonQ's revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,314,652. Insiders own 11.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of IonQ by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company's stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in IonQ by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Spire Wealth Management grew its holdings in IonQ by 406.3% during the 4th quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 962 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

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.