IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Down 2.9% After Insider Selling

Key Points

• IonQ's shares declined by 2.9% to $40.89, with trading volume down 81% compared to its average daily volume.
• DA Davidson downgraded IonQ from a "buy" to a "neutral" rating with a target price of $35, while other firms maintained or initiated coverage with positive ratings and higher target prices.
• IonQ's quarterly earnings revealed a loss of ($0.70) per share, significantly missing estimates, although the company's revenue of $20.69 million was above expectations, showing an 81.6% year-over-year increase.

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) were down 2.9% during trading on Friday after an insider sold shares in the company. The company traded as low as $40.51 and last traded at $40.89. Approximately 4,313,063 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 22,133,244 shares. The stock had previously closed at $42.11.

Specifically, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 64,578 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.82, for a total transaction of $2,700,651.96. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 473,302 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,793,489.64. The trade was a 12.01% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on IONQ. Benchmark lifted their price target on IonQ from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Wolfe Research started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 30th. They set a "peer perform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities started coverage on IonQ in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. They set a "buy" rating and a $70.00 price target on the stock. Seven investment 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.com, IonQ presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $46.78.

IonQ Stock Down 0.8%

The firm's 50-day moving average is $42.02 and its 200-day moving average is $34.54. The company has a market capitalization of $12.40 billion, a PE ratio of -20.79 and a beta of 2.54.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $17.23 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.18) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 81.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IONQ. Stifel Financial Corp purchased a new position in IonQ in the fourth quarter worth $378,000. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $474,000. Ameriprise Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,519,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in IonQ during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,545,000. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors boosted its position in IonQ by 118.5% during the fourth quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 43,547 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,819,000 after buying an additional 23,620 shares during the period. 41.42% of the stock is currently 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.