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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on IONQ shares. DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark lowered their target price 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. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted 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. One equities research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.81 per share, with a total value of $2,029,769.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. This trade represents 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 ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in IonQ by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after purchasing an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in IonQ by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.