IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $25.55, but opened at $26.73. IonQ shares last traded at $25.46, with a volume of 12,522,161 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reduced 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 reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. 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 report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.78. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.17 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $29,828.40. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This 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 over the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDS Planning Inc increased its position in shares of IonQ by 2.6% during the fourth 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 period. Mariner LLC boosted its position in IonQ by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in IonQ by 15.2% during the 4th 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.