IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 6.7% Higher

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price traded up 6.7% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $7.74 and last traded at $7.69. 2,908,245 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 49% from the average session volume of 5,666,972 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.21.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $18.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, May 16th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their target price on shares of IonQ from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $7.51 and its 200 day moving average is $8.62. The stock has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.13 and a beta of 2.06.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. IonQ had a negative net margin of 671.00% and a negative return on equity of 31.76%. The company had revenue of $11.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.66 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.16) earnings per share. IonQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.89 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 5,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.89, for a total value of $46,835.04. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,297 shares in the company, valued at $3,513,393.33. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 5,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.89, for a total value of $46,835.04. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 445,297 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,513,393.33. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 4,610 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.89, for a total transaction of $36,372.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 949,614 shares in the company, valued at $7,492,454.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 20,353 shares of company stock worth $160,585. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $26,430,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1,598.7% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 2,084,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,825,000 after acquiring an additional 1,961,909 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 18,824,996 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,062,000 after acquiring an additional 918,265 shares during the period. Gagnon Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 1st quarter worth about $2,410,000. Finally, Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 126.7% in the 1st quarter. Hussman Strategic Advisors Inc. now owns 357,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,566,000 after acquiring an additional 199,500 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.