IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Down 4.7% – Should You Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price was down 4.7% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $51.25 and last traded at $51.8850. Approximately 14,681,269 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 24,317,990 shares. The stock had previously closed at $54.44.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the subject of several research reports. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Mizuho began coverage on IonQ in a research report on Thursday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective for the company. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on IonQ from $70.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Benchmark boosted their target price on IonQ from $55.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $68.18.

IonQ Stock Performance

The business has a 50-day moving average of $57.13 and a 200-day moving average of $49.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $17.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.40 and a beta of 2.62.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction 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 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $51.40, for a total transaction of $1,028,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 60,839 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,127,124.60. The trade was a 24.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 5.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in IonQ by 36.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,971 shares of the company’s stock valued at $367,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 101.4% in the third quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 11,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $733,000 after acquiring an additional 6,005 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 2.9% in the third quarter. Strategic Advocates LLC now owns 49,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,060,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 24.7% in the third quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 3,763 shares of the company’s stock valued at $231,000 after acquiring an additional 746 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the third quarter valued at $1,814,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

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.