IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 4.2% on Insider Selling

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded down 4.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $20.90 and last traded at $20.91. 17,522,147 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 14,045,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.82.

Specifically, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $372,272.79. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 572,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,632,587.76. The trade was a 3.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 17.7 %

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $34.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.73. The firm has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.06 and a beta of 2.50.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IONQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in IonQ by 1,310.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,060,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,519,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,513,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 439.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 857,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,800,000 after purchasing an additional 698,146 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Company 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.