IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 5.6% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price rose 5.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.55 and last traded at $22.32. Approximately 10,102,765 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 14,525,365 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.14.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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 report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 5.3 %

The company has a market cap of $4.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -27.47 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $32.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $10,632,587.76. The trade was a 3.38 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $892,797,000 after purchasing an additional 125,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1.0% in 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 raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1.8% in the third 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,293,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 12.6% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,809,000 after purchasing an additional 216,752 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.