Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Down 10.1% After Analyst Downgrade

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares traded down 10.1% on Tuesday after B. Riley downgraded the stock from a buy rating to a neutral rating. B. Riley now has a $42.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $35.00. Rigetti Computing traded as low as $34.65 and last traded at $35.18. 54,465,111 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 27% from the average session volume of 74,782,766 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.12.

Other analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Williams Trading set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on Rigetti Computing from $15.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Alliance Global Partners restated a “buy” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Industrial Alliance Securities set a $18.00 price objective on Rigetti Computing in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.29.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 3,919 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.84, for a total transaction of $58,157.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 183,581 shares in the company, valued at $2,724,342.04. This represents a 2.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Helene Gail Sandford sold 62,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.89, for a total transaction of $2,783,180.00. Following the sale, the director owned 120,371 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,403,454.19. This trade represents a 34.00% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 454,204 shares of company stock valued at $10,300,876 over the last quarter.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Rigetti Computing

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Rigetti Computing by 20.7% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,177,119 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,283,000 after acquiring an additional 2,430,758 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 12.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,853,006 shares of the company’s stock valued at $104,997,000 after purchasing an additional 946,850 shares during the period. Marex Group plc acquired a new stake in shares of Rigetti Computing in the second quarter valued at approximately $87,414,000. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 22.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,484,155 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,910,000 after buying an additional 1,206,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UNICOM Systems Inc. grew its holdings in Rigetti Computing by 1,235.8% in the 1st quarter. UNICOM Systems Inc. now owns 3,806,935 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,151,000 after buying an additional 3,521,935 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 35.38% of the company’s stock.

Rigetti Computing Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.29 and a beta of 1.64. The business has a fifty day moving average of $32.00 and a 200-day moving average of $19.60.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 12th. The company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.06) by $0.01. Rigetti Computing had a negative return on equity of 29.05% and a negative net margin of 2,134.92%.The business had revenue of $1.80 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.87 million. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing, Inc, through its subsidiaries, builds quantum computers and the superconducting quantum processors. The company offers cloud in a form of quantum processing unit, such as 9-qubit chip and Ankaa-2 system under the Novera brand name; and sells access to its quantum computers through quantum computing as a service.