iQIYI Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:IQ)

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 73,617 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 415% compared to the average volume of 14,287 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IQ. Krane Funds Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in iQIYI by 82.1% in the fourth quarter. Krane Funds Advisors LLC now owns 21,763,769 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,745,000 after purchasing an additional 9,809,187 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in iQIYI in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $6,818,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in iQIYI by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 11,011,033 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,235,223 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI in the fourth quarter worth $6,297,000. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 4th quarter valued at about $3,914,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

iQIYI Stock Performance

NASDAQ:IQ traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $2.14. 9,700,467 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 28,042,930. The firm has a market cap of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.03. iQIYI has a one year low of $1.82 and a one year high of $5.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $2.13 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.32. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The company reported ($0.03) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $919.56 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.62 billion. iQIYI had a return on equity of 7.62% and a net margin of 2.62%. Research analysts anticipate that iQIYI will post 0.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. 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 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of iQIYI from $2.50 to $1.80 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of iQIYI from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Finally, OTR Global restated a “negative” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $2.91.

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.