IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 8.1% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price dropped 8.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $55.91 and last traded at $56.1940. Approximately 21,680,374 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 26,648,676 shares. The stock had previously closed at $61.18.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on IONQ shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley set a $48.50 target price on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark lowered their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on IonQ from $55.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group set a $85.00 price target on IonQ in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.62.

IonQ Trading Up 3.3%

The stock has a market capitalization of $21.08 billion, a P/E ratio of -201.71 and a beta of 3.18. The company’s 50-day moving average is $51.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $44.84.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The firm had revenue of $64.67 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.75 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.14) EPS. IonQ’s revenue for the quarter was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In related news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,984,353.30. This represents a 2.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,560,343,000 after purchasing an additional 5,420,037 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter worth about $199,753,000. Marex Group plc grew its position in IonQ by 419.1% in the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,083,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,225,000 after buying an additional 3,296,866 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in IonQ by 42.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,962,789 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,160,000 after buying an additional 2,663,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Clear Street Group Inc. increased its stake in IonQ by 219.6% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Group Inc. now owns 3,195,818 shares of the company’s stock valued at $143,396,000 after buying an additional 2,196,017 shares during the period. 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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.