iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Stock Price Down 5.4% – Time to Sell?

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ)’s share price dropped 5.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $2.19 and last traded at $2.18. Approximately 9,756,688 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 40% from the average daily volume of 16,212,554 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on IQ. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced 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. Hsbc Global Res raised iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. HSBC raised iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on shares of iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, iQIYI currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.13 billion, a PE ratio of 22.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.05. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.44.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $919.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. As a group, equities research analysts expect that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.04 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iQIYI

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IQ. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new stake in shares of iQIYI in the third quarter valued at about $32,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in iQIYI in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. PDS Planning Inc bought a new position in iQIYI in the 4th quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC acquired a new position in iQIYI during the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. 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.