IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)’s share price gapped down prior to trading on Thursday after Benchmark lowered their price target on the stock from $50.00 to $45.00. The stock had previously closed at $29.93, but opened at $28.04. Benchmark currently has a buy rating on the stock. IonQ shares last traded at $25.51, with a volume of 8,709,556 shares.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on IONQ. Craig Hallum boosted their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 target price on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $44.80.

Insider Activity

In related news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $634,349.01. Following the transaction, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at $16,985,373.33. This trade represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. This trade represents a 1.04 % 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 in the last quarter. 11.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of IonQ by 421.0% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 620 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 501 shares in the last quarter. Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. purchased a new position in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. bought a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -30.37 and a beta of 2.41. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.76.

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.