IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 0.6% – Should You Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price fell 0.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $25.67 and last traded at $25.73. 7,567,647 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average session volume of 15,606,573 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.89.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum lifted their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. 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 research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, March 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $27.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.22. The company has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a P/E ratio of -32.14 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In related news, Director William F. Scannell purchased 93,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $37,440,000.00. Following 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 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 owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,797,000 after purchasing an additional 125,144 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in IonQ by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,593,000 after acquiring an additional 45,942 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in IonQ by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,240,000 after acquiring an additional 75,596 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew 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 acquiring an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,809,000 after purchasing an additional 216,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.