IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 2.6% Higher on Analyst Upgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price shot up 2.6% during trading on Wednesday after Benchmark raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $50.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $43.96 and last traded at $40.79. 29,018,270 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 23,361,875 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.74.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. DA Davidson lowered their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Masi Niccolo De sold 9,280 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.23, for a total transaction of $391,894.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 711,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,067,211.01. This trade represents a 1.29% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PDS Planning Inc raised its holdings in IonQ by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Mariner LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC now owns 1,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Miracle Mile Advisors LLC boosted its stake in IonQ by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC now owns 20,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Trading Up 2.7%

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $32.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.09 billion, a PE ratio of -50.36 and a beta of 2.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.19) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

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.