iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Short Interest Down 5.1% in October

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 56,890,000 shares, a drop of 5.1% from the September 30th total of 59,930,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,560,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 10.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Hsbc Global Res lowered shares of iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “moderate sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. HSBC lowered iQIYI from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $4.70 to $3.00 in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.80 target price for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Nomura Securities raised iQIYI to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Benchmark downgraded shares of iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.45.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in IQ. Genesis Investment Management LLP lifted its position in iQIYI by 112.1% during the 3rd quarter. Genesis Investment Management LLP now owns 16,582,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,425,000 after acquiring an additional 8,765,711 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the second quarter valued at approximately $18,075,000. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of iQIYI by 65.4% during the first quarter. Maple Rock Capital Partners Inc. now owns 10,320,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,654,000 after purchasing an additional 4,080,000 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its stake in shares of iQIYI by 18.9% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 16,057,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,929,000 after purchasing an additional 2,549,287 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its holdings in iQIYI by 185.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 2,126,099 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,381,265 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

iQIYI Price Performance

IQ stock opened at $2.61 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.50 billion, a PE ratio of 9.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $3.50. iQIYI has a 12-month low of $1.92 and a 12-month high of $5.80.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $1.03 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that iQIYI will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

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.