IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 15% – Should You Buy?

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

IONQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Benchmark cut their price target on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised 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. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.68 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.44 and a beta of 2.50. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $32.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director William F. Scannell purchased 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. The trade was a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. PDS Planning Inc raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $494,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC raised its position in IonQ by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after buying an additional 350 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in IonQ by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.