iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $2.52, but opened at $2.69. iQIYI shares last traded at $2.51, with a volume of 12,766,807 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

IQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. HSBC raised iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup cut their price target on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Price Performance

The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.38. The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.63, a PEG ratio of 3.76 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.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company earned $0.07 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of iQIYI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of IQ. Flow Traders U.S. LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the third quarter valued at approximately $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC bought a new position in shares of iQIYI during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

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.