Short Interest in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Decreases By 9.1%

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 50,230,000 shares, a drop of 9.1% from the November 15th total of 55,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 20,360,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days. Approximately 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.2% in the second quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 21,870,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,574,711,000 after buying an additional 1,074,175 shares in the last quarter. Sanders Capital LLC lifted its stake in Alibaba Group by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 18,460,434 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,959,021,000 after buying an additional 60,667 shares in the last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the third quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $936,785,000 after acquiring an additional 3,448,152 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 1,392.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 6,125,542 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $650,043,000 after purchasing an additional 5,715,155 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 3,857,760 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $409,385,000 after acquiring an additional 3,740,150 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of BABA stock traded up $1.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $87.16. 13,272,053 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,435,371. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.37 and a quick ratio of 1.37. The business’s fifty day moving average is $94.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $86.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $208.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.44 and a beta of 0.30. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $236.50 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.82 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 5.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 8.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $90.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price target on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Susquehanna cut their price target on Alibaba Group from $135.00 to $130.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $114.07.

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.