IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 6.5% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price dropped 6.5% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $22.79 and last traded at $23.30. Approximately 8,153,730 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 43% from the average daily volume of 14,317,611 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.93.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IONQ. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased 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. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

IonQ Stock Down 3.4 %

The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.50 and a 200 day moving average of $26.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.37 billion, a P/E ratio of -29.64 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 purchase, the director now 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total transaction of $37,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in IonQ by 421.0% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new position in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 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.