IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down – Should You Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $37.46, but opened at $36.00. IonQ shares last traded at $34.71, with a volume of 5,885,207 shares traded.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

IonQ Stock Down 9.7 %

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.76 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -41.76 and a beta of 2.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 44,223 shares of company stock worth $1,314,652 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of IONQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at $32,060,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at $29,519,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at $29,513,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its stake in IonQ by 439.3% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 857,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $35,800,000 after purchasing an additional 698,146 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.