IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $37.50, but opened at $40.71. IonQ shares last traded at $41.25, with a volume of 6,194,135 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark upped their target price on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.60.

IonQ Stock Up 17.6 %

The stock has a market cap of $9.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -54.84 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $25.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.99.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.72, for a total transaction of $115,735.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 638,908 shares in the company, valued at $7,488,001.76. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983 over the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arizona State Retirement System boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 3.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares in the last quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock worth $166,000 after acquiring an additional 4,288 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 4,824.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in IonQ by 40.6% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.