Benchmark Cuts IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Price Target to $45.00

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Benchmark from $50.00 to $45.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Benchmark’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 82.95% from the stock’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday. DA Davidson raised IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum increased their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. One equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:IONQ opened at $24.60 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.76. IonQ has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.37 and a beta of 2.41.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. PDS Planning Inc increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after buying an additional 300 shares during the period. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in IonQ by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after purchasing an additional 363 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in IonQ by 73.2% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.