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

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s share price 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 changing hands.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IQ has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, iQIYI presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Up 6.7 %

The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.10 and its 200-day moving average is $2.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.03.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its quarterly 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 period last year, the business posted $0.07 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IQ. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in iQIYI during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the third quarter worth about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the fourth quarter worth about $32,000. Ballentine Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of iQIYI by 102.9% during the 3rd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 19,840 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 701,901 shares during the period. 52.69% of the stock is owned by 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.