IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 4.2% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares were up 4.2% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $36.75 and last traded at $35.69. Approximately 11,801,876 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average daily volume of 9,645,742 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on IONQ shares. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of -42.88 and a beta of 2.47. The company has a 50-day moving average of $20.79 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.25.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. IonQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total value of $115,735.00. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 638,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,488,001.76. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 66,000 shares of company stock worth $972,331 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the third quarter worth about $72,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the second quarter worth about $67,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the third quarter worth about $89,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in IonQ during the third quarter worth approximately $91,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently 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.