iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.36, but opened at $2.50. iQIYI shares last traded at $2.47, with a volume of 3,671,635 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

IQ has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Nomura Securities upgraded iQIYI to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of iQIYI from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. HSBC cut shares of iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $4.70 to $3.00 in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.80 target price for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res downgraded iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, iQIYI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.45.

iQIYI Trading Up 2.5 %

The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.51 and a 200-day moving average of $3.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.64, a PEG ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.07.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.02 billion. iQIYI had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 5.37%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in shares of iQIYI by 2.4% in the first quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 127,426 shares of the company’s stock valued at $539,000 after purchasing an additional 2,950 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in iQIYI by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,317 shares of the company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 7,219 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in iQIYI by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,954 shares of the company’s stock worth $81,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the period. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in iQIYI during the 2nd quarter worth $31,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in iQIYI by 10.1% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 112,270 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after acquiring an additional 10,342 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.