iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Trading Up 3.8% – Here’s Why

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) rose 3.8% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $2.30 and last traded at $2.30. 6,591,744 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 62% from the average daily volume of 17,342,941 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.21.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IQ has been the topic of several research reports. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC upgraded shares of iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.23 and its 200-day moving average is $2.27. The stock has a market cap of $2.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.05.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The business had revenue of $919.56 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.62 billion. iQIYI had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 2.62%. Analysts anticipate that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of iQIYI by 181.1% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 65,396 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in iQIYI by 738.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 137,793 shares of the company’s stock worth $394,000 after acquiring an additional 121,352 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in iQIYI by 77.1% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,871,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,354,000 after acquiring an additional 815,226 shares during the last quarter. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $318,000. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.