IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 1.5% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares fell 1.5% on Monday . The company traded as low as $44.66 and last traded at $45.3170. 17,048,193 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 24,072,221 shares. The stock had previously closed at $46.00.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on IONQ shares. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Zacks Research upgraded IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price objective on IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Benchmark boosted their target price on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.08.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a 50-day moving average of $51.43 and a two-hundred day moving average of $50.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $15.62 billion, a PE ratio of -8.40 and a beta of 2.62.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The company had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The company’s revenue was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $1,028,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 60,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,127,124.60. This trade represents a 24.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total transaction of $4,689,000.00. Following the sale, the executive directly owned 432,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,285,364.24. This represents a 18.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 125,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,992,000 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 18.5% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 29,354,706 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,805,314,000 after purchasing an additional 4,587,260 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $387,423,000 after buying an additional 1,043,878 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in IonQ by 15.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,338,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,422,000 after buying an additional 705,301 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in IonQ by 12.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,008,001 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,992,000 after buying an additional 333,653 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its position in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $168,327,000 after acquiring an additional 636,482 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.