iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Down 3.8% – Should You Sell?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s stock price fell 3.8% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $2.40 and last traded at $2.39. 16,029,307 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 5% from the average session volume of 16,882,118 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.48.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IQ has been the topic of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their target price on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research report on Wednesday, January 8th. HSBC upgraded iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Down 3.8 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a current ratio of 0.44 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.05. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.27.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of IQ. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in iQIYI by 181.1% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 101,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after buying an additional 65,396 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP increased its stake in shares of iQIYI by 127.2% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 66,789 shares of the company’s stock worth $191,000 after purchasing an additional 37,396 shares during the last quarter. Monolith Management Ltd bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,576,000. FMR LLC lifted its stake in iQIYI by 738.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 137,793 shares of the company’s stock valued at $394,000 after purchasing an additional 121,352 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its holdings in iQIYI by 77.1% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,871,931 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,354,000 after purchasing an additional 815,226 shares during the period. 52.69% of the stock is currently 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.