IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 5.6% – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares rose 5.6% on Friday . The company traded as high as $22.55 and last traded at $22.32. Approximately 10,102,765 shares changed hands during mid-day 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

IONQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Benchmark reduced their price target on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.88 billion, a PE ratio of -27.18 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was 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 owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Scannell purchased 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,375.07. This represents a 221.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. 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 acquiring an additional 25,502 shares in the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. bought a new position in IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth $92,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the third quarter worth $381,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 9.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 135,851 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 15.6% in the third quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 94,568 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after purchasing an additional 12,788 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.