IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 2.5% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price rose 2.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $44.02 and last traded at $43.6080. Approximately 13,636,116 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 46% from the average daily volume of 25,420,334 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on IONQ shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of IonQ in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $75.00 price target on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, August 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $49.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $69.92.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $46.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.15. The company has a market capitalization of $16.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.68 and a beta of 3.28.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.23. The company had revenue of $80.05 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $66.47 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 553.27% and a negative return on equity of 21.75%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 286.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.70) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, insider John W. Raymond sold 3,815 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $55.01, for a total value of $209,863.15. Following the transaction, the insider owned 80,148 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,408,941.48. This represents a 4.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 2,757 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $55.02, for a total value of $151,690.14. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 62,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,444,692.16. This trade represents a 4.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 9,329 shares of company stock worth $513,216 in the last quarter. Insiders own 0.55% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Accent Capital Management LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 171.8% in the 4th quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 216.5% in the first quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 959 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 656 shares in the last quarter. PeakShares LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the first quarter worth about $29,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 117.4% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, MWA Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the first quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Hedge funds and other 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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.