IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Hits New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $48.56 and last traded at $48.24, with a volume of 24705557 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark boosted their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

IonQ Trading Down 5.7 %

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $29.04 and its 200 day moving average is $15.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $9.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.15 and a beta of 2.49.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The company had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.22) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This trade represents 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 this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,223 shares of company stock worth $2,286,983. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in IonQ by 3.6% during the second quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,550 shares of the company’s stock valued at $348,000 after purchasing an additional 1,731 shares during the period. Verity Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of IonQ by 12.4% in the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 3,736 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 29.3% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in IonQ by 40.6% during the 2nd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 7,744 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.