IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 7.7% – Here’s What Happened

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares were down 7.7% on Friday . The company traded as low as $38.92 and last traded at $39.90. Approximately 23,526,373 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 15% from the average daily volume of 20,459,340 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.24.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on IONQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, November 20th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 4th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on IonQ in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $100.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on IonQ from $32.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $75.91.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $13.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.46 and a beta of 2.63. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $48.58 and its 200 day moving average price is $51.38.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 127.06% and a negative net margin of 1,836.32%.The firm had revenue of $39.87 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.99 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.24) EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total value of $1,028,000.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 60,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,127,124.60. The trade was a 24.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total value of $4,689,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive directly owned 432,616 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,285,364.24. The trade was a 18.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 125,000 shares of company stock worth $5,992,000. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of IonQ by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420,037 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in IonQ by 19.9% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 6,299,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $387,423,000 after purchasing an additional 1,043,878 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 15.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,338,456 shares of the company’s stock valued at $229,422,000 after buying an additional 705,301 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in IonQ by 12.5% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,008,001 shares of the company’s stock valued at $184,992,000 after buying an additional 333,653 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in IonQ by 30.3% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 2,737,026 shares of the company’s stock valued at $168,327,000 after buying an additional 636,482 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by 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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.