IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 6.5% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shot up 6.5% on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on the stock from $16.00 to $30.00. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has a neutral rating on the stock. IonQ traded as high as $33.34 and last traded at $32.23. 42,498,737 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 44,682,926 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.25.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total transaction of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,519,679.50. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 109,507 shares of company stock worth $2,279,308. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in IonQ by 1,348.5% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in IonQ by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in IonQ during the second quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter worth about $72,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.23 billion, a PE ratio of -41.25 and a beta of 2.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $33.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.45.

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

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.