Vanguard Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,497,964 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 123,839 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 9.65% of IonQ worth $474,460,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. IPG Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in IonQ by 79.4% during the 1st quarter. IPG Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,075 shares of the company’s stock worth $708,000 after purchasing an additional 14,200 shares in the last quarter. MASO CAPITAL PARTNERS Ltd purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 1st quarter valued at about $110,000. Strategic Advocates LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 136.1% in the 1st quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 48,775 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,076,000 after buying an additional 28,118 shares during the period. Finally, Moors & Cabot Inc. grew its holdings in IonQ by 11.9% in the 1st quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 34,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $770,000 after buying an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on IONQ. Oppenheimer began coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Benchmark lifted their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.00.

IonQ Price Performance

NYSE IONQ opened at $41.09 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -20.44 and a beta of 2.54. IonQ, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.54 and a 1-year high of $54.74. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.40.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.57). The firm had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $17.23 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 885.21% and a negative return on equity of 67.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.18) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 3,581,193 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.13, for a total transaction of $136,550,889.09. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,883,244.77. The trade was a 90.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 65,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total value of $2,507,050.00. Following the transaction, the executive directly owned 552,592 shares in the company, valued at $21,313,473.44. This trade represents a 10.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 9,209,626 shares of company stock valued at $361,253,723. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.