Short Interest in iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) Decreases By 18.5%

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the target of a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 33,470,000 shares, a decline of 18.5% from the January 15th total of 41,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 21,660,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.5 days. Currently, 6.4% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Hsbc Global Res raised iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. HSBC upgraded iQIYI from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $2.15 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Benchmark reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Friday, January 24th. OTR Global reaffirmed a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their price target on iQIYI from $3.00 to $2.80 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $2.91.

iQIYI Stock Performance

NASDAQ IQ traded up $0.02 on Monday, hitting $2.54. 37,883,172 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 24,730,406. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65, a current ratio of 0.45 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $2.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $2.36. iQIYI has a fifty-two week low of $1.82 and a fifty-two week high of $5.80. The firm has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.76 and a beta of 0.03.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 21st. The company reported $0.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business posted $0.07 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that iQIYI will post 0.14 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iQIYI

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of iQIYI during the 4th quarter worth approximately $6,818,000. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. LMR Partners LLP purchased a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $237,000. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,410,000. Finally, Brevan Howard Capital Management LP lifted its stake in iQIYI by 272.1% in the 4th quarter. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP now owns 670,146 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 490,046 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

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.