Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Takes Position in IonQ, Inc. $IONQ

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 72,900 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,271,000.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 12.5% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 14,898 shares during the last quarter. Amundi bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the first quarter valued at $630,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 106.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 29,513 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 24.1% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 450,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,932,000 after acquiring an additional 87,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 30.3% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 46,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,984,353.30. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.34, for a total transaction of $93,352.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 83,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,799,326.42. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 11,738 shares of company stock valued at $485,332. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE IONQ opened at $63.52 on Wednesday. IonQ, Inc. has a twelve month low of $25.89 and a twelve month high of $84.64. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.59 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.30. The company has a market capitalization of $23.71 billion, a PE ratio of -226.86 and a beta of 3.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The firm had revenue of $64.67 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.75 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.14) EPS. IonQ’s quarterly revenue was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on IONQ. Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of IonQ from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $68.63.

Trending Headlines about IonQ

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Quantum computing stocks rallied after the U.S. Commerce Department announced $2.013 billion in CHIPS and Science Act grants to nine quantum companies, boosting sentiment across the group and strengthening the case for IonQ as a potential beneficiary. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Investor speculation is growing that IonQ could receive direct or indirect support from the government’s expanding quantum technology push, which has helped fuel buying interest in the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary says the recent rally in IONQ could still have more room to run if short sellers are forced to cover, adding a potential short-squeeze element to the move. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broader quantum-sector enthusiasm is also lifting related names and ETFs, but some of the gains are concentrated in the market’s interpretation of which companies will actually receive funding. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Some analysts and commentators are warning that the quantum story may be getting more competitive and harder to justify at current valuations, with newer entrants and other sector developments potentially diluting IonQ’s relative advantage. Article Title

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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.