IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) Short Interest Up 19.5% in March

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) saw a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,890,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the February 28th total of 23,330,000 shares. Approximately 13.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,550,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,375.07. This represents a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the third quarter worth $381,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 9.2% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 135,851 shares during the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 15.6% during the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 94,568 shares of the company’s stock valued at $827,000 after purchasing an additional 12,788 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in IonQ by 7.2% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in IonQ by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,825,000 after buying an additional 111,435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of IonQ stock traded down $1.70 during trading on Thursday, hitting $23.35. 16,004,598 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,182,095. The stock has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.88 and a beta of 2.50. IonQ has a twelve month low of $6.22 and a twelve month high of $54.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $30.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.37.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price 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, Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

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.