IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Up 2.5% – Time to Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price was up 2.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $29.37 and last traded at $28.7790. Approximately 12,947,208 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 20,712,615 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.08.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have issued reports on IONQ shares. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on IonQ from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Wedbush initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, February 9th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $69.45.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $10.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.56 and a beta of 2.80. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $33.17 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $47.51.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.34, for a total transaction of $93,352.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 83,963 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,799,326.42. This represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $38.38 per share, for a total transaction of $115,140.00. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 9,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $361,270.94. This represents a 46.78% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 8,581 shares of company stock valued at $316,156 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in IonQ by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,420,037 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in IonQ by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,962,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,160,000 after acquiring an additional 2,663,230 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in IonQ by 21.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 8,074,301 shares of the company’s stock worth $361,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452,463 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $199,753,000. Finally, Marex Group plc raised its holdings in IonQ by 419.1% during the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,083,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $183,225,000 after acquiring an additional 3,296,866 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors 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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.