First Trust Advisors LP Invests $5.83 Million in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

First Trust Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 139,529 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,828,000. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.06% of IonQ at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of IONQ. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 738.1% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 17,802 shares of the company's stock valued at $744,000 after acquiring an additional 15,678 shares during the period. EAM Investors LLC purchased a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $5,999,000. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL purchased a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,031,000. XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,544,000. Finally, Mariner LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

IonQ Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:IONQ traded down $0.12 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $27.34. 9,916,120 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,156,763. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -33.75 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $24.42 and a 200 day moving average of $29.64. IonQ, Inc. has a 1-year low of $6.22 and a 1-year high of $54.74.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $217,491.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive now owns 592,615 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports 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 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 report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson cut their target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Benchmark cut their target price on IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.80.

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.