IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Down 4.2% – Here’s Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shares fell 4.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $20.90 and last traded at $20.91. 17,522,147 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 25% from the average session volume of 14,045,045 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.82.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

IonQ Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.52 and a beta of 2.50. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $34.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 1,407 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.20, for a total transaction of $29,828.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,615 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,563,438. This trade represents a 0.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director William F. Scannell acquired 93,066 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.81 per share, for a total transaction of $2,029,769.46. Following the transaction, the director now owns 135,047 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,945,375.07. The trade was a 221.69 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in IonQ by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,374,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $892,797,000 after buying an additional 125,144 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,593,000 after purchasing an additional 45,942 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,260,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,240,000 after buying an additional 75,596 shares in the last quarter. 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 buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in IonQ by 12.6% during 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. Hedge funds and other 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.