iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) Shares Down 3.5% Following Analyst Downgrade

Shares of iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) were down 3.5% during mid-day trading on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $2.50 to $1.80. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. iQIYI traded as low as $1.94 and last traded at $1.95. Approximately 4,196,320 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 64% from the average daily volume of 11,754,837 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.02.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Benchmark reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group cut iQIYI from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $2.80 price objective for the company. in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Nomura Securities raised iQIYI to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, August 26th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and four have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, iQIYI currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.15.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in IQ. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ purchased a new stake in iQIYI during the second quarter valued at about $31,000. Ground Swell Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Flow Traders U.S. LLC acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the third quarter worth about $32,000. Seven Eight Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the second quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the second quarter worth about $46,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 52.69% of the company’s stock.

iQIYI Stock Performance

The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $3.25. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.08, a PEG ratio of 0.56 and a beta of 0.08. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.01 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.02 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.05 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that iQIYI, Inc. will post 0.16 EPS for the current year.

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.