IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Falls 4.3% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded down 4.3% on Wednesday. The stock traded as low as $40.76 and last traded at $41.4160. 18,742,868 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 24% from the average daily volume of 24,549,986 shares. The stock had previously closed at $43.29.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IONQ has been the topic of several recent research reports. Bank of America assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Monday, September 28th. They set a “buy” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $100.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Northland Securities increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $70.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, September 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $63.83.

IonQ Stock Down 4.3%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $44.59. The company has a market capitalization of $15.78 billion, a PE ratio of -8.89 and a beta of 3.36.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.56) by $0.23. The business had revenue of $80.05 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $66.47 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 553.27% and a negative return on equity of 22.29%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 286.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.70) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.11 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other IonQ news, insider John Raymond sold 2,407 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $37.21, for a total value of $89,564.47. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 77,741 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,892,742.61. This trade represents a 3.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.55% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its holdings in IonQ by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $86,000 after acquiring an additional 461 shares during the period. Cim Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 7.4% during the second quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 17,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $954,000 after purchasing an additional 1,237 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 31.5% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 10,937 shares of the company’s stock worth $583,000 after purchasing an additional 2,618 shares during the last quarter. Core Capital Management & Research inc. purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the second quarter valued at $53,000. Finally, Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the second quarter valued at $394,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About IonQ

IonQ, Inc is a quantum computing company that develops and commercializes quantum computers based on trapped-ion technology. Its systems are designed to perform specialized computations that may eventually support applications in areas such as optimization, materials science, drug discovery, financial modeling and artificial intelligence.

The company offers access to its quantum processors through cloud platforms, including Amazon Web Services’ Amazon Braket, Microsoft Azure Quantum and Google Cloud.