Principal Financial Group Inc. Lowers Position in IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ)

Principal Financial Group Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) by 30.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,590 shares of the company’s stock after selling 8,211 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in IonQ were worth $162,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of IONQ. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in IonQ by 4,824.2% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 6,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 6,368 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter valued at $67,000. nVerses Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the 3rd quarter worth $72,000. Xponance Inc. bought a new position in shares of IonQ in the 2nd quarter worth $88,000. Finally, Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of IonQ during the 3rd quarter worth $89,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.42% of the company’s stock.

IonQ Stock Performance

Shares of IONQ stock opened at $49.73 on Wednesday. IonQ, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $6.22 and a fifty-two week high of $54.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $10.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.39 and a beta of 2.43. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $33.19 and its 200-day simple moving average is $17.27.

IonQ (NYSE:IONQ) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.22) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $12.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $10.56 million. IonQ had a negative return on equity of 36.82% and a negative net margin of 457.85%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 102.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.22) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that IonQ, Inc. will post -0.86 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at IonQ

In other news, CRO Rima Alameddine sold 21,337 shares of IonQ stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $634,349.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive now directly owns 571,321 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,985,373.33. The trade was a 3.60 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Peter Hume Chapman sold 13,106 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.73, for a total transaction of $389,641.38. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 414,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,319,011.99. The trade was a 3.07 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 110,223 shares of company stock valued at $2,286,983 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 11.60% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on IONQ. DA Davidson assumed coverage on IonQ in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Benchmark lifted their price objective on shares of IonQ from $12.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Needham & Company LLC increased their target price on shares of IonQ from $13.00 to $18.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Craig Hallum lifted their price target on shares of IonQ from $22.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.60.

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.