iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Trading Up 7.7% – Should You Buy?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s share price rose 7.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $2.14 and last traded at $2.16. Approximately 6,683,859 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 15,722,672 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of 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. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Friday, November 22nd. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Citigroup reduced their target price on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res raised shares of 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Up 14.8 %

The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.49, a P/E/G ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 0.02. 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 has a 50-day moving average price of $2.08 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.52.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of iQIYI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of IQ. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in iQIYI during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the third quarter worth $32,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the 2nd quarter valued at $46,000. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of iQIYI by 102.9% in the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 701,901 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new position in iQIYI during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

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.