IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 8.4% – What’s Next?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shot up 8.4% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $21.20 and last traded at $20.27. 8,496,774 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 39% from the average session volume of 13,933,165 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average of $35.31 and a 200 day moving average of $25.67. The stock has a market cap of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.17 and a beta of 2.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,563,438. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total transaction of $37,440,000.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently 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.