iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Gap Up – Still a Buy?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $2.09, but opened at $2.17. iQIYI shares last traded at $2.18, with a volume of 3,076,576 shares traded.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IQ has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Friday, January 24th. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC upgraded iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price objective on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Up 6.7 %

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.41. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.03.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. iQIYI had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 13.26%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Genesis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in shares of iQIYI by 112.1% during the 3rd quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 16,582,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,425,000 after buying an additional 8,765,711 shares during the period. Monolith Management Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,576,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. grew its stake in shares of iQIYI by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 24,357,654 shares of the company’s stock valued at $48,959,000 after buying an additional 1,114,390 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake in shares of iQIYI by 77.1% during the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,871,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after buying an additional 815,226 shares during the period. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of iQIYI by 102.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,840 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 701,901 shares during the period. 52.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About iQIYI

iQIYI, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, provides online entertainment video services in the People's Republic of China. It offers various products and services, including online video, online games, online literature, animations, and other products. The company operates a platform that provides a collection of internet video content, such as professionally produced content licensed from professional content providers and self-produced content.