Needham & Company LLC Has Lowered Expectations for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) had its price objective reduced by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $54.00 to $50.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 60.21% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also issued reports on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $38.33.

IonQ Stock Down 2.0 %

NYSE:IONQ opened at $31.21 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.47. The stock has a market cap of $6.95 billion, a P/E ratio of -38.53 and a beta of 2.46. IonQ has a twelve month low of $6.22 and a twelve month high of $54.74.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The firm had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.51 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down .2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that IonQ will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $217,491.84. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,563,438. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 over the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $3,840,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter worth approximately $863,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 61,481 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,568,000 after purchasing an additional 8,800 shares during the last quarter. Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $850,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers boosted its holdings in IonQ by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 303,803 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,690,000 after purchasing an additional 25,577 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Company Profile

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.