IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Up 0.1% – Should You Buy?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) rose 0.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $25.20 and last traded at $24.83. Approximately 6,501,364 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 56% from the average daily volume of 14,847,482 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.80.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on IONQ shares. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark decreased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson raised shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.70 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $32.03 and its 200-day moving average is $26.80.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’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 completion of the sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $29,828.40. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,563,438. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Integrated Advisors Network LLC bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $316,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $15,146,000 after purchasing an additional 82,499 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $7,081,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC purchased a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Virtus Investment Advisers Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $209,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.