IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Downgraded by DA Davidson to Neutral

Key Points

• IonQ has been downgraded from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating by DA Davidson, with a new price target set at $35.00, indicating a potential downside of approximately 14.89%.
• Despite the downgrade, IonQ has received multiple "buy" ratings from other analysts, with a consensus target price of $45.00, suggesting a general confidence in the stock's long-term performance.
• The company reported disappointing earnings, missing estimates with a loss of ($0.70) per share, while its revenue of $20.69 million exceeded expectations, showing an 81.6% increase year-over-year.

DA Davidson downgraded shares of IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Free Report) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $35.00 target price on the stock.

Other research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "market perform" rating for the company. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of IonQ in a report on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Benchmark increased their target price on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Wolfe Research began coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They issued a "peer perform" rating for the company. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities began coverage on IonQ in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

IonQ Stock Up 3.5%

Shares of IONQ stock traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $41.90. 20,380,886 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,119,504. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $41.42 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $34.29. IonQ has a 12-month low of $6.54 and a 12-month high of $54.74. The stock has a market cap of $10.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -20.85 and a beta of 2.54.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.57). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 67.11% and a negative net margin of 885.21%. The company had revenue of $20.69 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.23 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 81.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that IonQ will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at IonQ

In other news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 1,497,311 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.93, for a total transaction of $59,787,628.23. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 390,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,585,836.97. The trade was a 79.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 17,776 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.28, for a total value of $733,793.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 537,880 shares of the company's stock, valued at $22,203,686.40. The trade was a 3.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 9,209,626 shares of company stock worth $361,253,723 over the last 90 days. 5.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in IonQ in the 2nd quarter valued at $399,000. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in IonQ by 13.2% during the second quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 64,909 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,789,000 after buying an additional 7,550 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in IonQ by 15.0% during the 2nd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 143,661 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,173,000 after buying an additional 18,741 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its stake in IonQ by 38.1% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 50,304 shares of the company's stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 13,887 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC bought a new stake in IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.