IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Up 1.8% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares were up 1.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $42.76 and last traded at $41.72. Approximately 29,162,686 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 18% from the average daily volume of 24,639,305 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.00.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer began coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price target on the stock. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

IonQ Trading Up 1.8%

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $62.65 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 2.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The firm had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. acquired 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 6,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,496.53. The trade was a 45.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 8,773 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.52, for a total transaction of $443,211.96. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 37,436 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,891,266.72. This trade represents a 18.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 113,622 shares of company stock worth $4,931,896. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 18.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,354,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,314,000 after buying an additional 4,587,260 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,423,000 after acquiring an additional 1,043,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 15.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,338,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,422,000 after acquiring an additional 705,301 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in IonQ by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,008,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,992,000 after purchasing an additional 333,653 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in IonQ by 30.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,327,000 after purchasing an additional 636,482 shares in the last quarter. 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.