Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Short Interest Down 9.2% in October

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 62,560,000 shares, a decline of 9.2% from the October 15th total of 68,870,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 20,030,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.1 days. Currently, 2.6% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Alibaba Group Stock Down 2.5 %

NYSE BABA traded down $2.21 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,614,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,631,631. The stock has a market capitalization of $208.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.70, a PEG ratio of 0.39 and a beta of 0.35. Alibaba Group has a 1-year low of $66.63 and a 1-year high of $117.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $98.34 and a 200-day moving average price of $85.77. 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 (NYSE:BABA) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, November 15th. The specialty retailer reported $15.06 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.87 by $13.19. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 8.98% and a return on equity of 12.23%. The company had revenue of $236.50 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $239.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.82 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 8.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 5,715,155 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in Alibaba Group by 3,180.1% during 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 last quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. raised its position in Alibaba Group by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hhlr Advisors LTD. now owns 8,827,600 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $936,785,000 after purchasing an additional 3,448,152 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 454.2% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 3,611,571 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $383,260,000 after acquiring an additional 2,959,954 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 9,205.2% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,697,358 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,801,240,000 after buying an additional 1,679,117 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BABA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Macquarie raised Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $116.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Friday, July 26th. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $114.07.

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.