iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 59,930,000 shares, a growth of 6.7% from the September 15th total of 56,150,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 15,560,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days. Approximately 11.4% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ acquired a new position in iQIYI during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI in the second quarter valued at about $42,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC purchased a new position in iQIYI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in iQIYI by 65.0% during the 1st quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 18,317 shares of the company’s stock worth $77,000 after buying an additional 7,219 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd lifted its stake in iQIYI by 59.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 21,954 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 8,225 shares during the period. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

iQIYI Trading Up 2.5 %

NASDAQ:IQ opened at $2.45 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.54 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.62. iQIYI has a one year low of $1.92 and a one year high of $5.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.75, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 0.07.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.01 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.06 by ($0.05). iQIYI had a return on equity of 14.57% and a net margin of 5.37%. The firm had revenue of $1.03 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.02 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.05 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that iQIYI will post 0.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on iQIYI from $5.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.80 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Benchmark lowered shares of iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Hsbc Global Res downgraded shares of iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Finally, HSBC downgraded shares of iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $4.70 to $3.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.45.

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.