IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 8.3% on Analyst Downgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price fell 8.3% on Thursday after Benchmark lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ traded as low as $24.33 and last traded at $27.45. 18,595,897 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 29% from the average session volume of 26,113,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.93.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. DA Davidson raised IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 in the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,797,000 after buying an additional 125,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,593,000 after buying an additional 45,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,809,000 after buying an additional 216,752 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Trading Down 1.3 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.37 and a beta of 2.41. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $38.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.76.

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.