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

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s stock price 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

IonQ Stock Down 9.7 %

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 0.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised 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 valued at $186,593,000 after acquiring an additional 45,942 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 1.8% in the third 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 last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,293,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 12.6% in the fourth 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 last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.