Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Trading Down 2% – Here’s Why

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI)’s stock price traded down 2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $9.52 and last traded at $9.58. 14,366,690 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 114,176,984 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on RGTI. B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing from $8.50 to $15.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $17.00 price target on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Craig Hallum assumed coverage on Rigetti Computing in a report on Friday, December 20th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $14.00 target price on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Finally, Alliance Global Partners reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a report on Thursday, March 6th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $14.50.

Rigetti Computing Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $6.66. The company has a quick ratio of 4.84, a current ratio of 4.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The firm has a market cap of $2.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -23.51 and a beta of 1.36.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 5th. The company reported ($0.08) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.08). The company had revenue of $2.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.40 million. Rigetti Computing had a negative return on equity of 51.56% and a negative net margin of 509.58%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.04) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO David Rivas sold 351,785 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.76, for a total value of $2,729,851.60. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,094,738 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,495,166.88. This trade represents a 24.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Rigetti Computing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 81.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 11,746,361 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,249,000 after purchasing an additional 5,280,128 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Rigetti Computing by 7,367.2% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,580,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $69,896,000 after acquiring an additional 4,518,978 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Rigetti Computing by 6.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 3,850,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,767,000 after acquiring an additional 228,391 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Rigetti Computing by 12.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,715,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,126,000 after purchasing an additional 309,831 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 3,295.7% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,117,563 shares of the company’s stock worth $32,314,000 after purchasing an additional 2,055,203 shares during the period. 35.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing, Inc, through its subsidiaries, builds quantum computers and the superconducting quantum processors. The company offers cloud in a form of quantum processing unit, such as 9-qubit chip and Ankaa-2 system under the Novera brand name; and sells access to its quantum computers through quantum computing as a service.