IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down After Insider Selling

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down prior to trading on Monday after an insider sold shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $33.83, but opened at $32.47. IonQ shares last traded at $34.17, with a volume of 4,880,275 shares changing hands.

Specifically, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 414,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,319,011.99. This represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 926,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,524,108.08. The trade was a 1.04 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 571,321 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,985,373.33. This represents a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on IONQ shares. Craig Hallum upped their price target on shares of IonQ from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Benchmark increased their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th.

IonQ Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average price is $22.61 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.37 billion, a PE ratio of -41.77 and a beta of 2.49.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Quest Partners LLC increased its position in shares of IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in IonQ during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $67,000. nVerses Capital LLC purchased a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Mosley Wealth Management purchased a new stake in IonQ in the second quarter valued at $81,000. Finally, Xponance Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ in the second quarter valued at $88,000. 41.42% of the stock is currently 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.