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

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price objective on Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Benchmark reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, November 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Mizuho raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Alibaba Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $115.86.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rings Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Rings Capital Management LLC now owns 7,100 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $602,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 2,829 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $240,000 after buying an additional 101 shares in the last quarter. Global Endowment Management LP lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Global Endowment Management LP now owns 7,570 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 3,134 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TRUE Private Wealth Advisors lifted its position in Alibaba Group by 3.7% during the third quarter. TRUE Private Wealth Advisors now owns 3,123 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 112 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

NYSE BABA opened at $124.73 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $296.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.42 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $91.11. Alibaba Group has a 1-year low of $68.36 and a 1-year high of $126.80. 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 (NYSE:BABA) last released its earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $13.19. The business had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $239.45 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.28% and a net margin of 8.98%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.82 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Alibaba Group

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.