IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Down 44.2% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares were down 44.2% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $26.14 and last traded at $27.66. Approximately 70,797,290 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 114% from the average daily volume of 33,124,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.59.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Benchmark lifted their price target on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a fifty day moving average price of $33.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $17.45. The company has a market capitalization of $7.03 billion, a P/E ratio of -40.10 and a beta of 2.43.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.72, for a total value of $98,184.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 648,783 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,954,953.76. The trade was a 1.39 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 109,507 shares of company stock worth $2,279,308 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Carnegie Investment Counsel purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at $5,036,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth about $3,749,000. Main Management ETF Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,865,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $38,640,000 after buying an additional 199,360 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,631,000. Institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.