Legal & General Group Plc Trims Stake in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Legal & General Group Plc cut its stake in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) by 1.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 256,117 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,777 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in IonQ were worth $10,701,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 421.0% during 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 period. Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. City State Bank bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Hemington Wealth Management purchased a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on IONQ shares. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday, March 31st. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.80.

IonQ Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:IONQ opened at $24.56 on Thursday. IonQ, Inc. has a 1 year low of $6.22 and a 1 year high of $54.74. The company has a market cap of $5.47 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.32 and a beta of 2.50. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $26.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In related news, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593. Company insiders own 11.60% 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.