IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 1% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares fell 1% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $25.02 and last traded at $25.29. 18,077,314 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 22% from the average session volume of 14,767,807 shares. The stock had previously closed at $25.55.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, February 27th. DA Davidson upgraded IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price objective on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

IonQ Trading Up 0.1 %

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.81. The firm has a market cap of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of -31.69 and a beta of 2.50.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, Director William F. Scannell purchased 93,066 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares in the company, valued at $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total transaction of $37,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,756,875.36. This trade represents 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 valued at $38,059,593 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in IonQ by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after acquiring an additional 135,851 shares during the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 34.2% in the third quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,825,000 after purchasing an additional 111,435 shares in the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter worth $1,631,000. State Street Corp raised its stake in IonQ by 1.8% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after purchasing an additional 75,596 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at $3,840,000. 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.