IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 8.6% – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price dropped 8.6% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $41.88 and last traded at $41.40. Approximately 12,981,518 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 72% from the average daily volume of 45,737,039 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.31.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on IONQ. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum increased 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. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson initiated coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $36.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $19.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.05 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). The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,658 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,519,679.50. The trade was a 3.72 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 67,098 shares of company stock valued at $1,720,683. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares during the period. Carnegie Investment Counsel bought a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $5,036,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,749,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 111,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,631,000. 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.