IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 2.5% – Should You Sell?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded down 2.5% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $47.33 and last traded at $47.8880. 18,885,488 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 23% from the average session volume of 24,575,656 shares. The stock had previously closed at $49.12.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $47.00 price objective for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of IonQ from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 4th. B. Riley raised their price objective on shares of IonQ from $75.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 22nd. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Seven 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $66.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $62.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.26. The stock has a market cap of $14.49 billion, a PE ratio of -7.80 and a beta of 2.59.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported ($3.58) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by ($3.14). The business had revenue of $39.87 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.99 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 1,836.32% and a negative return on equity of 127.06%. The business’s revenue was up 221.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.24) earnings per share. IonQ has set its FY 2025 guidance at EPS. Equities research analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In related news, insider Paul T. Dacier sold 4,175 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $44.40, for a total value of $185,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 114,454 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,081,757.60. The trade was a 3.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 100,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.89, for a total transaction of $4,689,000.00. Following the sale, the executive owned 432,616 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,285,364.24. This trade represents a 18.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 213,622 shares of company stock worth $9,620,896. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its holdings in IonQ by 5.4% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 64,781 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,430,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of IonQ by 180.9% during the 1st quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after buying an additional 3,010 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 237.6% during the 1st quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 77,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,718,000 after acquiring an additional 54,797 shares during the period. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its stake in shares of IonQ by 983.5% during the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 102,465 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,261,000 after acquiring an additional 93,008 shares during the period. Finally, Choreo LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 13.6% in the 1st quarter. Choreo LLC now owns 12,256 shares of the company’s stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. 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.