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

iQIYI, Inc. (NASDAQ:IQ) saw some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Investors acquired 11,018 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 23% compared to the typical volume of 8,970 call options.

iQIYI Stock Performance

iQIYI stock traded down $0.46 on Tuesday, hitting $4.77. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,970,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,148,129. The firm has a market cap of $4.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.43 and a beta of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $4.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $5.07. iQIYI has a one year low of $2.33 and a one year high of $7.99. The company has a quick ratio of 0.58, a current ratio of 0.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.07.

iQIYI (NASDAQ:IQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 22nd. The company reported $0.05 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.05. The firm had revenue of $1.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. iQIYI had a net margin of 1.44% and a return on equity of 5.25%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that iQIYI will post 0.27 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

IQ has been the topic of a number of research reports. Macquarie upgraded iQIYI from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $5.12 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Benchmark cut their target price on iQIYI from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. HSBC lowered their price target on shares of iQIYI from $5.80 to $5.60 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, OTR Global raised shares of iQIYI from a “mixed” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, October 6th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.27.

Institutional Trading of iQIYI

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. FMR LLC raised its holdings in iQIYI by 92.1% in the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 6,366 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 3,052 shares during the period. Koshinski Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $53,000. First Foundation Advisors bought a new stake in iQIYI during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $53,000. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in iQIYI in the third quarter valued at approximately $49,000. Finally, Castleview Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of iQIYI in the first quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.65% 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.