IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 7.1% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares shot up 7.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $25.47 and last traded at $24.83. 11,283,192 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 25% from the average session volume of 15,083,839 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.19.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONQ. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, 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 report on Friday, January 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 11.0 %

The company has a market capitalization of $5.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.79 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $30.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.38.

Insider Activity

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. The trade was a 221.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 over the last three months. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. 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.