IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 12.4% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price traded up 12.4% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $55.32 and last traded at $54.68. 33,062,909 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 35% from the average session volume of 24,470,586 shares. The stock had previously closed at $48.65.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on IONQ. Benchmark increased their price target on IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, B. Riley boosted their price objective on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $18.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.85 and a beta of 2.62. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $58.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $49.39.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The company had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 8,773 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total value of $443,211.96. Following the sale, the insider owned 37,436 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,891,266.72. This trade represents a 18.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $185,370.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 114,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,081,757.60. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 149,044 shares of company stock worth $6,920,244. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its holdings in IonQ by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 36,417 shares of the company’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 2,384 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 14.7% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 151,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,337,000 after acquiring an additional 19,363 shares in the last quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 38.5% during the first quarter. Harbour Investments Inc. now owns 7,331 shares of the company’s stock worth $162,000 after purchasing an additional 2,038 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the first quarter worth about $284,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in IonQ by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,460,000 after purchasing an additional 123,839 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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.