Have Insiders Sold IonQ Shares Recently?

We wouldn't blame IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ) shareholders if they were a little worried about the fact that Rima Alameddine, the Chief Revenue Officer recently netted about US$634k selling shares at an average price of US$29.73. That's a big disposal, and it decreased their holding size by 11%, which is notable but not too bad.

View our latest analysis for IonQ

The Last 12 Months Of Insider Transactions At IonQ

Over the last year, we can see that the biggest insider purchase was by Lead Independent Director Harry You for US$1.1m worth of shares, at about US$9.28 per share. Although we like to see insider buying, we note that this large purchase was at significantly below the recent price of US$33.83. Because the shares were purchased at a lower price, this particular buy doesn't tell us much about how insiders feel about the current share price.

In the last twelve months insiders purchased 115.01k shares for US$1.1m. But insiders sold 211.86k shares worth US$2.8m. All up, insiders sold more shares in IonQ than they bought, over the last year. The chart below shows insider transactions (by companies and individuals) over the last year. By clicking on the graph below, you can see the precise details of each insider transaction!

If you like to buy stocks that insiders are buying, rather than selling, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: Most of them are flying under the radar).

Insider Ownership Of IonQ

Many investors like to check how much of a company is owned by insiders. We usually like to see fairly high levels of insider ownership. It's great to see that IonQ insiders own 9.0% of the company, worth about US$656m. This kind of significant ownership by insiders does generally increase the chance that the company is run in the interest of all shareholders.

So What Do The IonQ Insider Transactions Indicate?

Insiders sold IonQ shares recently, but they didn't buy any. Despite some insider buying, the longer term picture doesn't make us feel much more positive. It is good to see high insider ownership, but the insider selling leaves us cautious. While it's good to be aware of what's going on with the insider's ownership and transactions, we make sure to also consider what risks are facing a stock before making any investment decision. When we did our research, we found 4 warning signs for IonQ (1 can't be ignored!) that we believe deserve your full attention.

If you would prefer to check out another company -- one with potentially superior financials -- then do not miss this free list of interesting companies, that have HIGH return on equity and low debt.

For the purposes of this article, insiders are those individuals who report their transactions to the relevant regulatory body. We currently account for open market transactions and private dispositions of direct interests only, but not derivative transactions or indirect interests.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.