Investors Buy Large Volume of Call Options on iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ)

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ - Get Free Report) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock investors purchased 36,529 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 107% compared to the average volume of 17,647 call options.

iQIYI Stock Performance

NASDAQ IQ traded up $0.08 during trading on Monday, reaching $1.81. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,997,820 shares, compared to its average volume of 22,958,042. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $1.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.03. iQIYI has a 12 month low of $1.50 and a 12 month high of $4.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of -0.18. The company has a current ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.70.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The company reported $0.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.05 by ($0.02). iQIYI had a net margin of 2.62% and a return on equity of 7.62%. The company had revenue of $988.19 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.10 billion. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that iQIYI will post 0.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On iQIYI

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of IQ. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in iQIYI by 393.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,152,263 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,864,000 after acquiring an additional 1,716,011 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc. grew its position in iQIYI by 461.7% in the 1st quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 1,614,192 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,648,000 after purchasing an additional 1,326,830 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in iQIYI during the first quarter worth $33,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of iQIYI by 29.0% in the first quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 2,896,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,545,000 after buying an additional 651,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI during the first quarter valued at about $374,000. 52.69% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on IQ shares. Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of iQIYI in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of iQIYI from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Friday, May 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, iQIYI presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price 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.

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