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

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) saw a significant increase in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 49,370,000 shares, an increase of 18.3% from the January 15th total of 41,720,000 shares. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 18,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.7 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

BABA has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Barclays lowered their target price on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.86.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Alibaba Group stock traded up $5.19 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $124.73. 52,592,862 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 21,722,708. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $91.02. The firm has a market cap of $296.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a PEG ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. Alibaba Group has a 12 month low of $68.36 and a 12 month high of $126.80.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.28%. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. Alibaba Group’s revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Alibaba Group

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 21.1% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 155,440 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $13,180,000 after purchasing an additional 27,088 shares in the last quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 131.2% in the fourth quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 74,807 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $6,343,000 after acquiring an additional 42,446 shares during the last quarter. Generate Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $12,656,000. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV grew its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 63.9% during the 3rd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 28,716 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $3,047,000 after purchasing an additional 11,192 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 7,734.1% in the 3rd quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 269,805 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $28,632,000 after purchasing an additional 266,361 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.