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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the topic of several research reports. B. Riley lifted their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.08.

IonQ Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $15.74 billion, a PE ratio of -8.47 and a beta of 2.62. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $52.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $50.44.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The company had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 6,413 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $351,496.53. The trade was a 45.32% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the executive owned 432,616 shares in the company, valued at $20,285,364.24. The trade was a 18.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 125,000 shares of company stock worth $5,992,000. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 242.4% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 19,217 shares of the company’s stock valued at $424,000 after acquiring an additional 13,604 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 4.9% during the first quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 270,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,967,000 after purchasing an additional 12,577 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 38.1% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 57,918 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,278,000 after purchasing an additional 15,986 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 25.5% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 4,810 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after purchasing an additional 977 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Comerica Bank grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4,301.9% in the first quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 4,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after purchasing an additional 4,560 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. 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.