IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 9.1% – Time to Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares dropped 9.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $22.53 and last traded at $22.76. Approximately 9,154,070 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 15,156,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.05.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the subject of several recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $45.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum raised their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $5.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -28.71 and a beta of 2.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $30.23 and a 200-day moving average of $27.37.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.81 per share, with a total value of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,945,375.07. This represents a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth about $381,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 9.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after purchasing an additional 135,851 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 7.2% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 41,125 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its position in IonQ by 34.2% during the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 111,435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verition Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in IonQ in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $479,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.