Benchmark Reiterates “Hold” Rating for iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ)

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by analysts at Benchmark in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on IQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC upgraded iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.91.

iQIYI Trading Up 14.8 %

Shares of IQ traded up $0.30 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $2.30. 38,671,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,005,158. iQIYI has a 12-month low of $1.82 and a 12-month high of $5.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $2.08 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.52. The firm has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.48, a PEG 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.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $0.07 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that iQIYI will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC purchased a new position in iQIYI during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in iQIYI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, HighTower Advisors LLC increased its holdings 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 last quarter. 52.69% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.