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

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down before the market opened 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 traded.

IONQ has been the subject of a number of other reports. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, January 10th. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 20th. DA Davidson upgraded shares of IonQ to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, February 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $54.00 price objective on shares of IonQ in a report on Thursday. One 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $44.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 44,223 shares of company stock valued at $1,314,652. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 1,310.9% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,468,160 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares during the period. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $32,060,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. bought a new position in IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $29,519,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in IonQ in the fourth quarter worth $29,513,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in IonQ by 439.3% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

IonQ Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -30.75 and a beta of 2.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $38.99 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $24.63.

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.