IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Acquired by Essex Financial Services Inc.

Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) by 68.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,709 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 7,571 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in IonQ were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. City State Bank acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its position in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Spire Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 406.3% during the fourth quarter. Spire Wealth Management now owns 962 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

IonQ Stock Performance

IONQ stock opened at $38.00 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.67. IonQ, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The stock has a market cap of $8.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.91 and a beta of 2.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 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 value of $389,641.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of IonQ 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark boosted 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. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Craig Hallum increased their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

IonQ 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.