IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 2.1% on Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• IonQ's stock price rose by 2.1% after B. Riley upgraded their price target from $75.00 to $100.00, maintaining a buy rating on the stock.
• Institutional investors have increased their positions in IonQ, with notable increases by firms such as GAMMA Investing LLC and Modus Advisors LLC.
• IonQ reported an earnings miss with a loss of ($0.70) per share, but had strong revenue growth of 81.6% compared to the prior year.

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shot up 2.1% during mid-day trading on Monday after B. Riley raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $100.00. B. Riley currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $73.17 and last traded at $71.90. 35,260,439 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 54% from the average session volume of 22,935,432 shares. The stock had previously closed at $70.41.

IONQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. DA Davidson cut shares of IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $58.33.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of IonQ 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. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 8,773 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total transaction of $443,211.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 37,436 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,891,266.72. This represents a 18.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 351,047 shares of company stock worth $15,645,611 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Archer Investment Corp grew its holdings in IonQ by 119.3% during the second quarter. Archer Investment Corp now owns 592 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the period. ORG Partners LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 348.0% during the first quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 50.0% during the first quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 780.1% during the first quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,461 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the period. Finally, Close Asset Management Ltd acquired a new position in IonQ during the first quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company's stock.

IonQ Stock Up 3.8%

The stock has a market cap of $22.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -37.04 and a beta of 2.54. The stock's fifty day moving average is $44.92 and its 200-day moving average is $36.96.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $20.69 million for 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 81.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.