IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 1% – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.12 and last traded at $22.91. 7,580,384 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,376,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.68.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IONQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark lowered their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 5.9 %

The company has a market cap of $4.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -27.64 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.64 and its 200-day moving average is $26.17.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 572,568 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,632,587.76. This represents a 3.38 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 over the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,797,000 after purchasing an additional 125,144 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,593,000 after purchasing an additional 45,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in IonQ by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th 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. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,809,000 after acquiring an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.