IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 15% – Still a Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price shot up 15% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $25.64 and last traded at $25.60. 15,422,428 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 14,662,720 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.26.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

IonQ Stock Up 15.9 %

The business’s 50-day moving average is $32.43 and its 200-day moving average is $26.55. The company has a market capitalization of $5.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.73 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total transaction of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 944,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This trade represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Integrated Advisors Network LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth $316,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 362,603 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,146,000 after purchasing an additional 82,499 shares during the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $7,081,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $209,000. 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.