IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 0.5% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shot up 0.5% during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $28.25 and last traded at $26.23. 8,573,248 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 45% from the average session volume of 15,706,791 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on IONQ. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday, March 31st. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $41.80.

IonQ Trading Down 3.1 %

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.36. The company has a market cap of $5.63 billion, a PE ratio of -31.21 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were 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 directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Scannell purchased 93,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. This represents a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 over the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

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