IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Stock Price Down 1.1% – Time to Sell?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) were down 1.1% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $31.88 and last traded at $32.7470. Approximately 13,361,450 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 21,355,947 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.11.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

IONQ has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of IonQ from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Mizuho initiated coverage on shares of IonQ in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $90.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of IonQ from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of IonQ from $55.00 to $35.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of IonQ from $80.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $69.45.

IonQ Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $12.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.15 and a beta of 2.61. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.05 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $49.71.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 5,165 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.44, for a total value of $203,707.60. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 112,291 shares in the company, valued at $4,428,757.04. This trade represents a 4.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William J. Teuber, Jr. bought 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $38.38 per share, for a total transaction of $115,140.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,413 shares in the company, valued at $361,270.94. The trade was a 46.78% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 8,581 shares of company stock worth $316,156 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in IONQ. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in IonQ by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 34,774,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,560,343,000 after acquiring an additional 5,420,037 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $199,753,000. Marex Group plc increased its holdings in shares of IonQ by 419.1% in the fourth quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 4,083,453 shares of the company’s stock valued at $183,225,000 after purchasing an additional 3,296,866 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 8,962,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $402,160,000 after purchasing an additional 2,663,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of IonQ by 648.5% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,674,348 shares of the company’s stock worth $114,917,000 after purchasing an additional 2,317,058 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is 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. It also provides contracts associated with the design, development, and construction of specialized quantum computing hardware systems; maintenance and support services; and consulting services related to co-developing algorithms on quantum computing systems.