IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 12.5% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares traded up 12.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $47.34 and last traded at $46.92. 39,838,850 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 61% from the average session volume of 24,701,639 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.71.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the subject of a number of research reports. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $66.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company’s 50-day moving average price is $62.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $16.30 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.77 and a beta of 2.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The firm had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other IonQ news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 6,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,496.53. This trade represents a 45.32% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 16,120 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $715,728.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,181,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $52,444,658.40. This trade represents a 1.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 213,622 shares of company stock valued at $9,620,896 in the last three months. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in IonQ by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,354,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,314,000 after acquiring an additional 4,587,260 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the second quarter valued at about $114,767,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 648.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,058 shares during the last quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 286.1% in the third quarter. Lansdowne Partners UK LLP now owns 1,937,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,127,000 after buying an additional 1,435,394 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,423,000 after buying an additional 1,043,878 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.