IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.07, but opened at $24.31. IonQ shares last traded at $22.77, with a volume of 6,959,576 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

IonQ Stock Up 10.8 %

The stock has a market cap of $5.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.32 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $31.01 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.27.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This represents a 0.24 % 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, 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 worth $38,059,593 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. acquired a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other 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.