IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 23,650,000 shares, a decline of 13.1% from the January 15th total of 27,230,000 shares. Currently, 12.6% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 30,920,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 0.8 days.

IonQ Stock Down 3.0 %

IONQ traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $37.47. 8,150,097 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,816,476. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.26 and a beta of 2.40. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.69 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.20. IonQ has a 52-week low of $6.22 and a 52-week high of $54.74.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,314,652 in the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,797,000 after buying an additional 125,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,593,000 after buying an additional 45,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in IonQ by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,809,000 after buying an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum upped their price objective on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. 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 report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Benchmark upped their price objective on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

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.