Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) Shares Down 3.4% on Analyst Downgrade

Rigetti Computing, Inc. (NASDAQ:RGTI) shares were down 3.4% during mid-day trading on Friday after Benchmark lowered their price target on the stock from $35.00 to $25.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. Rigetti Computing traded as low as $14.37 and last traded at $14.88. Approximately 24,587,906 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 30,391,480 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.41.

RGTI has been the topic of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Rigetti Computing in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 21st. B. Riley Financial upgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, TD Cowen downgraded shares of Rigetti Computing from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.70.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO David Rivas sold 36,719 shares of Rigetti Computing stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $643,316.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 651,914 shares in the company, valued at $11,421,533.28. This trade represents a 5.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Jeffrey A. Bertelsen sold 4,270 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.52, for a total transaction of $74,810.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 175,609 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,076,669.68. The trade was a 2.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 1.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rigetti Computing

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RGTI. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Rigetti Computing by 119.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 260,307 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after acquiring an additional 141,541 shares in the last quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Rigetti Computing by 43.8% in the 3rd quarter. Penserra Capital Management LLC now owns 2,445,818 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,860,000 after acquiring an additional 744,577 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 18.3% in the second quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 546,100 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,477,000 after purchasing an additional 84,300 shares during the last quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Rigetti Computing by 3,429.3% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 36,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $409,000 after purchasing an additional 35,150 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oak Harvest Investment Services lifted its position in shares of Rigetti Computing by 436.7% during the third quarter. Oak Harvest Investment Services now owns 80,505 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after purchasing an additional 65,505 shares in the last quarter. 35.38% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Rigetti Computing Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $4.94 billion, a PE ratio of -21.88 and a beta of 1.71. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $18.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.81.

Rigetti Computing (NASDAQ:RGTI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 4th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.02. Rigetti Computing had a negative net margin of 3,111.92% and a negative return on equity of 14.91%. The firm had revenue of $1.87 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $2.33 million. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Rigetti Computing, Inc. will post -0.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Rigetti Computing

Rigetti Computing is a pioneering quantum computing company that designs and manufactures superconducting quantum processors alongside a complementary software stack. Founded in 2013 by CEO Chad Rigetti, the company has developed end-to-end quantum systems—from cryogenic hardware to control electronics—to advance the performance and scalability of quantum machines.

At the core of Rigetti’s offering is its Quantum Cloud Services (QCS) platform, which enables developers and enterprises to access quantum processing units (QPUs) and hybrid quantum-classical workflows via the cloud.