IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 12.5% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares rose 12.5% on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $43.61 and last traded at $43.74. Approximately 17,433,522 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average daily volume of 46,777,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Benchmark increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

IonQ Trading Down 1.8 %

The business’s fifty day moving average price is $36.86 and its 200 day moving average price is $19.43. The company has a market capitalization of $8.93 billion, a P/E ratio of -50.94 and a beta of 2.43.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 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 $634,349.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 67,098 shares of company stock worth $1,720,683 in the last three months. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter valued at about $88,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 16.8% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 115,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $814,000 after purchasing an additional 16,642 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the second quarter worth $126,000. Granite Bay Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the second quarter worth $221,000. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its position in IonQ by 33.1% in the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 69,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $605,000 after purchasing an additional 17,200 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.