IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 1% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) fell 1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $39.18 and last traded at $39.14. 5,978,255 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 84% from the average session volume of 36,947,098 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.54.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on IONQ. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark boosted their target price on IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.86 and a beta of 2.43. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.88.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $12.40 million during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.22) EPS. As a group, analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % 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 over the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. City State Bank bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter worth about $36,000. Hemington Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.