IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 4.7% – Time to Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded down 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $45.69 and last traded at $48.2940. 31,618,587 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the average session volume of 19,022,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on IONQ shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush initiated coverage on IonQ in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson raised their price objective on IonQ from $35.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Zacks Research upgraded IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.91.

IonQ Trading Down 4.7%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $48.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $51.41. The stock has a market cap of $16.78 billion, a PE ratio of -9.03 and a beta of 2.63.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The company had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 221.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 6,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $351,496.53. This represents a 45.32% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total value of $4,689,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 432,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,285,364.24. This trade represents a 18.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 125,000 shares of company stock valued at $5,992,000 over the last quarter. 5.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in IonQ by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after acquiring an additional 14,898 shares during the period. Amundi purchased a new stake in IonQ in the first quarter worth approximately $630,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in IonQ by 106.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,305 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,265,000 after purchasing an additional 29,513 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its position in IonQ by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 450,031 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,932,000 after purchasing an additional 87,428 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in IonQ by 30.3% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 46,782 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,032,000 after buying an additional 10,881 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.42% 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. 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.