IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) Short Interest Update

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in 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. Approximately 13.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 25,550,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.81 per share, with a total value of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 over the last 90 days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in IonQ by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 34.2% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 111,435 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in IonQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,631,000. State Street Corp increased its holdings in IonQ by 1.8% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth approximately $3,840,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

IonQ Stock Up 8.2 %

Shares of IONQ stock traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $25.10. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,164,825 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,177,540. IonQ has a 12-month low of $6.22 and a 12-month high of $54.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.59 billion, a PE ratio of -30.99 and a beta of 2.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $30.23 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.37.

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.