IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) Trading Down 9.6% – Time to Sell?

Shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) traded down 9.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $51.29 and last traded at $51.97. 26,985,849 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 5% from the average session volume of 25,648,104 shares. The stock had previously closed at $57.47.

Key Headlines Impacting IonQ

Here are the key news stories impacting IonQ this week:

• Negative Sentiment: Quantum-computing stocks including IonQ were hit hard Friday afternoon as the entire group fell, suggesting sector-wide risk-off sentiment is weighing on shares. Quantum Computing Stock Shock: IonQ, Rigetti, D-Wave, and Quantum Computing Inc. Fall 6% to 9%
• Negative Sentiment: Tech stocks are broadly falling today, adding extra pressure to IonQ as investors pull back from speculative growth names. Why IonQ Stock Is Plummeting Today
• Neutral Sentiment: Earlier coverage focused on IonQ’s strong Q1 results, including surging revenue, a growing backlog, and expanding enterprise adoption, which had supported bullish sentiment before today’s selloff. The Zacks Analyst Blog IonQ, D-Wave Quantum and Rigetti
• Neutral Sentiment: IonQ has also been highlighted as a leading quantum stock, but the shares remain highly sentiment-driven and volatile because the company is still not profitable. IonQ and 5 More Stocks to Play Quantum Fever

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Northland Securities assumed coverage on IonQ in a research report on Monday, April 20th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on IonQ from $42.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Benchmark dropped their target price on IonQ from $75.00 to $65.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 26th. Morgan Stanley set a $48.50 target price on IonQ in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded IonQ from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.63.

IonQ Price Performance

The business has a 50 day moving average of $38.45 and a 200 day moving average of $43.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $19.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -185.61 and a beta of 3.05.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.26) by ($0.08). IonQ had a negative return on equity of 23.20% and a net margin of 174.88%.The company had revenue of $64.67 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.75 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.14) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 754.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that IonQ, Inc. will post -2.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other IonQ news, insider Robert T. Cardillo sold 3,773 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $49.90, for a total value of $188,272.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 139,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,984,353.30. The trade was a 2.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider John W. Raymond sold 2,800 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.34, for a total value of $93,352.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 83,963 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,799,326.42. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 12,354 shares of company stock valued at $504,428 over the last three months. Company insiders own 5.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Ameriflex Group Inc. grew its stake in IonQ by 485.7% in the third quarter. Ameriflex Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Accent Capital Management LLC grew its stake in IonQ by 171.8% in the fourth quarter. Accent Capital Management LLC now owns 587 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the period. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its stake in IonQ by 3,800.0% in the fourth quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 624 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares during the period. PeakShares LLC acquired a new position in IonQ in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. acquired a new position in IonQ in the third quarter valued at about $31,000. 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.