iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Sees Large Decrease in Short Interest

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the target of a large decline in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 57,180,000 shares, a decline of 9.0% from the May 31st total of 62,860,000 shares. Approximately 10.9% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 9,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.3 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in shares of iQIYI by 2.4% during the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 127,426 shares of the company’s stock worth $539,000 after acquiring an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in iQIYI by 65.4% during the first quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 10,320,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,654,000 after buying an additional 4,080,000 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in iQIYI by 206.5% during the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,137,614 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,812,000 after buying an additional 766,436 shares in the last quarter. Natixis purchased a new stake in iQIYI during the first quarter worth about $536,000. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co boosted its holdings in iQIYI by 32.9% during the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 466,189 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,973,000 after buying an additional 115,400 shares in the last quarter. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently commented on IQ. OTR Global reiterated a “mixed” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Thursday, April 4th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $9.00 price target on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.18.

iQIYI Stock Performance

NASDAQ IQ traded up $0.25 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $3.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,228,955 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,975,610. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.60 and a current ratio of 0.60. The firm has a market cap of $3.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.08. iQIYI has a twelve month low of $3.06 and a twelve month high of $6.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $4.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $4.22.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 16th. The company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $1.11 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.09 billion. iQIYI had a net margin of 6.23% and a return on equity of 17.57%. As a group, analysts anticipate that iQIYI will post 0.38 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.