IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $39.39, but opened at $36.86. IonQ shares last traded at $36.38, with a volume of 10,890,114 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. Craig Hallum boosted 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 target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC increased 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, IonQ currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.00.

IonQ Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $8.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.05 and a beta of 2.43. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $34.67 and a 200 day simple moving average of $18.09.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $12.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares in the company, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 592,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,519,679.50. This trade represents a 3.72 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 90,473 shares of company stock valued at $2,065,388. 11.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. City State Bank acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in IonQ by 1,348.5% during the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 890 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in IonQ by 73.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 480 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealthcare Advisory Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. 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.