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

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on IONQ shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.82 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.21. The company has a market cap of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.71 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total value of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 592,615 shares in the company, valued at $12,563,438. The trade was a 0.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in shares of IonQ by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 11,829 shares of the company’s stock valued at $494,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 54,479 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,276,000 after acquiring an additional 350 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of IonQ by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,753 shares of the company’s stock valued at $116,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 73.2% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares during the period. Finally, Smartleaf Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares during 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.