IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $18.70, but opened at $20.27. IonQ shares last traded at $19.96, with a volume of 4,681,846 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on IONQ. Craig Hallum upped their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark cut their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 17.0 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.67. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of -26.86 and a beta of 2.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at $12,563,438. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 9.2% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 34.2% in 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. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,631,000. Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its position in shares of IonQ by 196.1% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 38,508 shares of the company’s stock valued at $337,000 after buying an additional 25,502 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by 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.