IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 3% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• IonQ's shares dropped 3% during trading, with the stock last priced at $41.46, reflecting a significant decrease in trading volume of 75%.
• The company reported a quarterly loss of ($0.70) earnings per share, missing estimates, but its revenue increased by 81.6% year-over-year.
• A majority of analysts have rated IonQ as a "Moderate Buy", with a consensus target price of $46.78, despite some recent downgrades from different firms.

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) were down 3% during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $40.22 and last traded at $41.46. Approximately 5,483,252 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average daily volume of 22,315,576 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.74.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on IONQ shares. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on IonQ in a research note on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of IonQ in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Rosenblatt Securities assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $70.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson downgraded shares of IonQ from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $35.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, IonQ presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.78.

IonQ Trading Up 2.8%

The firm has a market cap of $12.50 billion, a PE ratio of -20.95 and a beta of 2.54. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $41.98 and its 200 day simple moving average is $34.48.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.57). The business had revenue of $20.69 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $17.23 million. IonQ had a negative net margin of 885.21% and a negative return on equity of 67.11%. IonQ's revenue for the quarter was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.18) earnings per share. Analysts expect that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.18, for a total transaction of $2,078,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive directly owned 552,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,518,698.56. This represents a 7.53% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Kathryn K. Chou sold 6,789 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.14, for a total transaction of $292,877.46. Following the sale, the director directly owned 60,839 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,624,594.46. The trade was a 10.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 9,209,626 shares of company stock worth $361,253,723 over the last quarter. Insiders own 5.20% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of IonQ

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 28.4% in the second quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 1,008 shares of the company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 50.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 831 shares of the company's stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 279 shares during the period. Rothschild Investment LLC increased its holdings in IonQ by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rothschild Investment LLC now owns 2,720 shares of the company's stock worth $117,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in IonQ by 4.7% during the 2nd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,882 shares of the company's stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 306 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its stake in IonQ by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 42,286 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,817,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company's stock.

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.