IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 2.8% – Here’s What Happened

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) dropped 2.8% on Friday . The stock traded as low as $37.11 and last traded at $37.57. Approximately 3,607,645 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 28,694,279 shares. The stock had previously closed at $38.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on IONQ. Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Benchmark increased their price target on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $8.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -46.26 and a beta of 2.40. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.69 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.20.

Insider Transactions at IonQ

In other news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,319,011.99. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total transaction of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 44,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,314,652 in the last 90 days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in IonQ by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $892,797,000 after acquiring an additional 125,144 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in IonQ by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,593,000 after acquiring an additional 45,942 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 75,596 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in IonQ by 1,310.9% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,095,000 after acquiring an additional 2,293,231 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in IonQ by 12.6% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company’s stock valued at $80,809,000 after acquiring an additional 216,752 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Company Profile

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.