IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading 8.3% Higher – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price traded up 8.3% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $24.00 and last traded at $22.40. 14,780,361 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 4% from the average session volume of 15,372,879 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.68.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IONQ has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 10.0 %

The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a PE ratio of -28.09 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $29.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.81.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $372,272.79. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 572,568 shares in the company, valued at $10,632,587.76. This trade represents a 3.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $217,491.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,539,550.70. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in IonQ by 9.2% in 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. FMR LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 7.2% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 41,125 shares in the last quarter. Verition Fund Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the third quarter worth about $479,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 18,938 shares of the company’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 4,288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.