IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $37.50, but opened at $40.71. IonQ shares last traded at $41.25, with a volume of 6,194,135 shares.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Benchmark boosted their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Needham & Company LLC increased their price target on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson began coverage on IonQ in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.60.

IonQ Stock Up 17.6 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $9.61 billion, a PE ratio of -54.84 and a beta of 2.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.74 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.99.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. IonQ’s revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total value of $115,735.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 638,908 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,488,001.76. This trade represents a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in IonQ by 4,824.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the second quarter worth $67,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new stake in IonQ during the third quarter valued at $72,000. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new position in IonQ during the second quarter worth about $81,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. bought a new position in IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth about $88,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.