IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 9.1% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price fell 9.1% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $22.53 and last traded at $22.76. 9,154,070 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average session volume of 15,156,564 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.05.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Craig Hallum raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $45.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research report on Monday, March 31st. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Down 11.4 %

The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.43. The company has a market cap of $4.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.44 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 11,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $217,491.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 944,510 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,539,550.70. This represents a 1.22 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. The trade was a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 over the last three months. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in IonQ by 421.0% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 501 shares during the period. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. acquired a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. 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.