IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 1% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shot up 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $24.12 and last traded at $22.91. 7,580,384 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 47% from the average session volume of 14,376,736 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.68.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IONQ shares. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark dropped their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Up 0.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a P/E ratio of -28.22 and a beta of 2.50. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $32.96 and its 200 day moving average price is $26.23.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 421.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.