iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Stock Price Up 6.2% – Time to Buy?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) shares rose 6.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $2.34 and last traded at $2.31. Approximately 4,434,396 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 22,052,561 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.17.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IQ has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HSBC upgraded iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res upgraded iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price objective on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Trading Up 9.4 %

The company has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.50 and a beta of 0.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.41.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.04 by $0.02. iQIYI had a return on equity of 13.26% and a net margin of 4.69%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.07 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

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

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.