Benchmark Reaffirms “Hold” Rating for iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ)

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Benchmark in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup decreased their target price on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. HSBC raised shares of iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Hsbc Global Res raised shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, iQIYI has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Performance

Shares of IQ stock opened at $2.31 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.55, a PEG ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 0.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $2.13 and a 200 day moving average of $2.36. iQIYI has a 52 week low of $1.82 and a 52 week high of $5.80. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by $0.01. iQIYI had a net margin of 4.69% and a return on equity of 13.26%. As a group, research analysts expect that iQIYI will post 0.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth $1,693,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its holdings in iQIYI by 924.8% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 314,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $632,000 after buying an additional 283,900 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new position in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth about $6,818,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new position in iQIYI during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the 4th quarter valued at about $237,000. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.