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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $24.93, but opened at $23.65. IonQ shares last traded at $23.52, with a volume of 5,611,410 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on IONQ shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $5.40 billion, a PE ratio of -29.94 and a beta of 2.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.12.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,539,550.70. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in IonQ by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 15.2% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock worth $116,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its holdings 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other 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.