Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Short Interest Update

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 67,990,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 62,720,000 shares. Currently, 2.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,440,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

BABA has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $107.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 19th. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $112.63.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

BABA stock traded down $2.17 on Thursday, hitting $100.00. The company had a trading volume of 11,547,297 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,897,490. The company has a current ratio of 1.41, a quick ratio of 1.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $117.82. The stock has a market cap of $253.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.35. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.84.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $14.57. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 7.31%. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.47 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 16.4% during the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,314 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $412,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Alibaba Group by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,181,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $169,088,000 after purchasing an additional 25,054 shares during the period. SageView Advisory Group LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 135.3% during the fourth quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,536 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $545,000 after purchasing an additional 4,333 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter worth about $388,000. Finally, Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 86.8% in the first quarter. Lake Hills Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,850 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 2,719 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

Alibaba Group Holding Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides technology infrastructure and marketing reach to help merchants, brands, retailers, and other businesses to engage with their users and customers in the People's Republic of China and internationally. The company operates through seven segments: China Commerce, International Commerce, Local Consumer Services, Cainiao, Cloud, Digital Media and Entertainment, and Innovation Initiatives and Others.