Key Insights

• The considerable ownership by retail investors in IonQ indicates that they collectively have a greater say in management and business strategy

• A total of 25 investors have a majority stake in the company with 38% ownership

• Insiders have sold recently

To get a sense of who is truly in control of IonQ, Inc. (NYSE:IONQ), it is important to understand the ownership structure of the business. We can see that retail investors own the lion's share in the company with 56% ownership. That is, the group stands to benefit the most if the stock rises (or lose the most if there is a downturn).

While retail investors were the group that reaped the most benefits after last week’s 4.7% price gain, institutions also received a 34% cut.

In the chart below, we zoom in on the different ownership groups of IonQ.

Check out our latest analysis for IonQ

What Does The Institutional Ownership Tell Us About IonQ?

Institutions typically measure themselves against a benchmark when reporting to their own investors, so they often become more enthusiastic about a stock once it's included in a major index. We would expect most companies to have some institutions on the register, especially if they are growing.

IonQ already has institutions on the share registry. Indeed, they own a respectable stake in the company. This can indicate that the company has a certain degree of credibility in the investment community. However, it is best to be wary of relying on the supposed validation that comes with institutional investors. They too, get it wrong sometimes. When multiple institutions own a stock, there's always a risk that they are in a 'crowded trade'. When such a trade goes wrong, multiple parties may compete to sell stock fast. This risk is higher in a company without a history of growth. You can see IonQ's historic earnings and revenue below, but keep in mind there's always more to the story.

Hedge funds don't have many shares in IonQ. The Vanguard Group, Inc. is currently the largest shareholder, with 9.5% of shares outstanding. In comparison, the second and third largest shareholders hold about 6.6% and 3.4% of the stock.

Our studies suggest that the top 25 shareholders collectively control less than half of the company's shares, meaning that the company's shares are widely disseminated and there is no dominant shareholder.

While it makes sense to study institutional ownership data for a company, it also makes sense to study analyst sentiments to know which way the wind is blowing. There are a reasonable number of analysts covering the stock, so it might be useful to find out their aggregate view on the future.