IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down Following Insider Selling

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following insider selling activity. The stock had previously closed at $16.74, but opened at $15.76. IonQ shares last traded at $16.66, with a volume of 3,629,516 shares.

Specifically, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 22,875 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.75, for a total value of $406,031.25. Following the completion of the sale, the executive now directly owns 592,658 shares in the company, valued at $10,519,679.50. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.72, for a total value of $188,640.00. Following the transaction, the executive now owns 615,533 shares in the company, valued at $9,676,178.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on shares of IonQ from $11.50 to $8.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Benchmark cut their price objective on IonQ from $16.00 to $12.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Craig Hallum decreased their target price on IonQ from $21.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $13.00 price target on shares of IonQ in a research report on Wednesday, October 2nd.

IonQ Stock Performance

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.57.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.18) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.22) by $0.04. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 34.02% and a negative net margin of 525.13%. The company had revenue of $11.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.66 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.16) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 106.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.84 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Verity Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of IonQ by 12.4% during the third quarter. Verity Asset Management Inc. now owns 33,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after buying an additional 3,736 shares in the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the third quarter worth $101,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter valued at $110,000. Yong Rong HK Asset Management Ltd acquired a new stake in IonQ in the third quarter valued at $3,749,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth about $89,000. 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.