IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Shares Gap Down - Should You Sell?

IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) shares gapped down before the market opened on Thursday . The stock had previously closed at $39.39, but opened at $36.86. IonQ shares last traded at $36.38, with a volume of 10,890,114 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on IONQ shares. Benchmark raised their target price on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a report on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price target for the company. Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on IonQ from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, January 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC boosted their price target on IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.00.

IonQ Stock Up 5.7 %

The company has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -51.42 and a beta of 2.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $35.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $18.23.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.22) by ($0.02). IonQ had a negative net margin of 457.85% and a negative return on equity of 36.82%. The business had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.56 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.22) EPS. IonQ's revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total value of $389,641.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. This trade represents a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Thomas G. Kramer sold 9,780 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.72, for a total value of $290,661.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 926,114 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,524,108.08. This represents a 1.04 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 90,473 shares of company stock worth $2,065,388. Insiders own 11.60% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On IonQ

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. City State Bank acquired a new stake in shares of IonQ during the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of IonQ by 1,348.5% during the 4th quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 956 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 890 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 4,824.2% during the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 6,368 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in IonQ by 73.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,136 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. 41.42% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.