IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $30.25, but opened at $31.99. IonQ shares last traded at $31.02, with a volume of 23,483,565 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on IONQ. DA Davidson started coverage on IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised 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. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

IonQ Stock Up 8.7 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $7.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.58 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $33.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $17.45.

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 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 firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the sale, the executive now owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,507 shares of company stock worth $2,279,308 over the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth about $67,000. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $72,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.