IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 12.5% – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares shot up 12.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $43.61 and last traded at $43.74. 17,433,522 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 46,777,207 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.89.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Up 13.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $9.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -54.58 and a beta of 2.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $36.11 and its 200 day moving average is $19.00.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total value of $188,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 615,533 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,676,178.76. This represents a 1.91 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,098 shares of company stock valued at $1,909,323. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. City State Bank purchased a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the third quarter worth $72,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.