IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 4.2% – What’s Next?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares fell 4.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $21.92 and last traded at $22.66. 6,305,282 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 58% from the average session volume of 14,887,723 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.65.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Benchmark decreased their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 27th. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $44.80.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $31.35 and its 200 day moving average is $27.03. The company has a market capitalization of $5.11 billion, a PE ratio of -28.30 and a beta of 2.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,756,875.36. This trade represents a 82.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director William F. Scannell bought 93,066 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. This trade represents a 221.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,033,166 shares of company stock valued at $38,059,593 in the last quarter. Insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in IonQ by 9.2% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,614,034 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,107,000 after buying an additional 135,851 shares during the period. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of IonQ by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 437,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,825,000 after acquiring an additional 111,435 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,631,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.8% in the 3rd 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 during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,840,000. 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.