IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 4.7% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price traded down 4.7% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $45.69 and last traded at $48.2940. 31,618,587 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the average session volume of 19,022,010 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.66.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho started coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on IonQ from $60.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $75.91.

IonQ Stock Down 4.1%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $48.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $51.38. The company has a market capitalization of $16.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.84 and a beta of 2.63.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other IonQ news, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. purchased 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $54.81 per share, for a total transaction of $109,620.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 6,413 shares in the company, valued at $351,496.53. This represents a 45.32% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total value of $4,689,000.00. Following the sale, the executive owned 432,616 shares in the company, valued at $20,285,364.24. The trade was a 18.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 125,000 shares of company stock worth $5,992,000. 5.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its position in IonQ by 12.5% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 134,176 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,962,000 after buying an additional 14,898 shares during the last quarter. Amundi acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $630,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 106.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 57,305 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,265,000 after acquiring an additional 29,513 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 24.1% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 450,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,932,000 after acquiring an additional 87,428 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 30.3% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 46,782 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,032,000 after acquiring an additional 10,881 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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. 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.