IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) Short Interest Up 19.5% in March

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 27,890,000 shares, a growth of 19.5% from the February 28th total of 23,330,000 shares. Currently, 13.6% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 25,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

IonQ Trading Down 6.8 %

Shares of NYSE IONQ traded down $1.70 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.35. The company had a trading volume of 16,004,598 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,182,095. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $30.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.37. The company has a market capitalization of $5.20 billion, a PE ratio of -28.88 and a beta of 2.50. IonQ has a one year low of $6.22 and a one year high of $54.74.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. The trade was a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at $12,563,438. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings 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. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on IONQ. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Craig Hallum upped their price objective on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

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.