Benchmark Issues Pessimistic Forecast for IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Benchmark from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Benchmark's target price indicates a potential upside of 38.26% from the stock's current price.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on IONQ. DA Davidson dropped their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, 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 note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.80.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of IONQ traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $28.93. The company had a trading volume of 27,604,826 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,109,517. IonQ has a 52-week low of $6.22 and a 52-week high of $54.74. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $24.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -35.72 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at $12,563,438. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total transaction of $37,440,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company's stock valued at $892,797,000 after buying an additional 125,144 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of IonQ by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,593,000 after purchasing an additional 45,942 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company's stock worth $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in IonQ by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,809,000 after buying an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in IonQ by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,645,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,740,000 after buying an additional 31,638 shares in the last quarter. 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.