Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Short Interest Down 14.3% in January

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 37,520,000 shares, a drop of 14.3% from the December 31st total of 43,800,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 15,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days. Currently, 1.6% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BABA has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Mizuho increased their target price on Alibaba Group from $92.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Macquarie raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Barclays lowered 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, November 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Alibaba Group by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 52,363 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $3,770,000 after buying an additional 5,924 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 28.4% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,633 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $406,000 after acquiring an additional 1,247 shares during the period. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 2.4% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 281,504 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $20,268,000 after acquiring an additional 6,671 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the second quarter valued at approximately $3,451,000. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Alibaba Group Trading Down 4.0 %

NYSE BABA traded down $4.09 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $98.65. 36,378,141 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,013,848. The stock has a market cap of $234.66 billion, a PE ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.41 and a beta of 0.30. Alibaba Group has a 52 week low of $68.36 and a 52 week high of $117.82. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $86.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $88.83. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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 firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.82 EPS. Analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 7.86 earnings per share 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.