IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $55.45, but opened at $61.10. IonQ shares last traded at $60.81, with a volume of 16,875,786 shares.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on IonQ from $45.00 to $60.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on IonQ from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $58.33.

IonQ Trading Up 1.6%

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $57.82 and a 200 day moving average price of $44.42. The firm has a market cap of $20.95 billion, a PE ratio of -30.00 and a beta of 2.60.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $17.23 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 67.11% and a negative net margin of 885.21%.IonQ’s revenue was up 81.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.18) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 19,976 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total transaction of $886,934.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 532,616 shares in the company, valued at $23,648,150.40. The trade was a 3.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total value of $2,700,651.96. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 473,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,793,489.64. This represents a 12.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 131,398 shares of company stock worth $5,665,690. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MGO One Seven LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $221,000. Forum Financial Management LP acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $307,000. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 5,588 shares of the company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 555 shares during the last quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 4,625.1% during the 3rd quarter. ORG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 30,713 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 30,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 518 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.