iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Short Interest Update

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 49,860,000 shares, a growth of 23.4% from the February 13th total of 40,410,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 25,630,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.9 days. Approximately 9.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

iQIYI Price Performance

IQ stock opened at $2.48 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.44. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $2.20 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.27. The firm has a market cap of $2.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.05. iQIYI has a 1 year low of $1.82 and a 1 year high of $5.80.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $919.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. iQIYI had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 2.62%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that iQIYI will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IQ has been the topic of several research analyst reports. OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. 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 report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.91.

Institutional Trading of iQIYI

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new stake in iQIYI during the 3rd quarter worth about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC acquired a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth about $37,000. 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.