iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Short Interest Down 18.5% in January

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) saw a significant drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,470,000 shares, a drop of 18.5% from the January 15th total of 41,060,000 shares. Currently, 6.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 21,660,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.5 days.

iQIYI Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of IQ stock traded up $0.02 on Monday, reaching $2.54. 37,883,172 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,730,406. The company has a market capitalization of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a PEG ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $2.13 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.36. iQIYI has a twelve month low of $1.82 and a twelve month high of $5.80.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.04 by $0.02. iQIYI had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 4.69%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.07 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that iQIYI will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on IQ shares. Citigroup reduced their target price on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. OTR Global reiterated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC raised iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, iQIYI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.91.

Institutional Trading of iQIYI

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Krane Funds Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of iQIYI by 82.1% in the 4th quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 21,763,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,745,000 after acquiring an additional 9,809,187 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in iQIYI during the 4th quarter worth $6,818,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in iQIYI by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,011,033 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,135,000 after purchasing an additional 3,235,223 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,297,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the fourth quarter worth about $3,914,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

iQIYI Company Profile

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.