Essex Financial Services Inc. Increases Stake in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Essex Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 18,709 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 7,571 shares during the quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc.'s holdings in IonQ were worth $781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Comprehensive Financial Planning Inc. PA bought a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $92,000. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $94,000. Stephens Inc. AR bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $936,000. Entropy Technologies LP bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $420,000. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter worth $549,000. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. DA Davidson initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.00.

IonQ Trading Down 3.0 %

NYSE IONQ traded down $1.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $37.47. 8,150,097 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 27,816,476. IonQ, Inc. has a 52 week low of $6.22 and a 52 week high of $54.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.11 billion, a P/E ratio of -46.26 and a beta of 2.40. The business's fifty day moving average price is $39.69 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.20.

Insider Activity

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 571,321 shares of the company's stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % 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 valued at $1,314,652 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.60% 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.