IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down prior to trading on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $12.30, but opened at $11.71. IonQ shares last traded at $12.32, with a volume of 3,801,652 shares changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on IONQ. Craig Hallum decreased their price objective on IonQ from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark cut their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, October 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $8.06. The stock has a market cap of $2.66 billion, a PE ratio of -14.73 and a beta of 2.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.18) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by $0.04. IonQ had a negative net margin of 525.13% and a negative return on equity of 34.02%. The firm had revenue of $11.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.66 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 106.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 9,159 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.72, for a total transaction of $98,184.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 648,783 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,954,953.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 4.0% during the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 36,495 shares of the company’s stock worth $365,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in IonQ by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 49,550 shares of the company’s stock worth $348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,731 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in IonQ by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 29,427 shares of the company’s stock valued at $294,000 after acquiring an additional 2,805 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% during the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 40.6% in the second quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 26,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 7,744 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.