IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down - Here's Why

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $45.79, but opened at $41.96. IonQ shares last traded at $45.39, with a volume of 21,165,783 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Benchmark dropped their price target on IonQ from $45.00 to $40.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on IonQ from $54.00 to $50.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on IonQ from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on IonQ from $50.00 to $35.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, IonQ currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $38.33.

IonQ Trading Up 2.8%

The business has a fifty day moving average of $28.27 and a 200-day moving average of $32.20. The firm has a market cap of $10.47 billion, a PE ratio of -57.57 and a beta of 2.46.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.28) by $0.14. The business had revenue of $7.57 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $7.51 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down .2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.19) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other IonQ news, insider Peter Hume Chapman sold 2,000,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.72, for a total value of $37,440,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at $7,756,875.36. This represents a 82.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 20,047 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.57, for a total value of $372,272.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now owns 572,568 shares in the company, valued at $10,632,587.76. This represents a 3.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,033,166 shares of company stock worth $38,059,593 in the last ninety days. 11.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 21,497,964 shares of the company's stock valued at $474,460,000 after buying an additional 123,839 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,466,094 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,593,000 after buying an additional 45,942 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings 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 valued at $103,095,000 after buying an additional 2,293,231 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,934,625 shares of the company's stock valued at $80,809,000 after buying an additional 216,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of IonQ by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,645,672 shares of the company's stock valued at $68,740,000 after buying an additional 31,638 shares in the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.