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

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $49.59, but opened at $38.75. IonQ shares last traded at $30.05, with a volume of 33,781,677 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on IONQ shares. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Benchmark upped their price target on shares of 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 data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $28.60.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $6.04 billion, a P/E ratio of -34.48 and a beta of 2.43. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $33.19 and its 200 day simple moving average is $17.27.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 4.7% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,420,152 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,640,000 after acquiring an additional 199,360 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in IonQ by 9.2% in the third 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 last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in IonQ by 16.7% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 916,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,443,000 after purchasing an additional 131,439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ by 7.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 612,625 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 41,125 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.