Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Short Interest Up 8.4% in September

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) saw a large growth in short interest in September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 67,990,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 62,720,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 18,440,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days. Approximately 2.8% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Primecap Management Co. CA boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 21,870,987 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,574,711,000 after purchasing an additional 1,074,175 shares in the last quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP boosted its holdings in Alibaba Group by 39.2% during the first quarter. ARGA Investment Management LP now owns 3,582,005 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $259,194,000 after buying an additional 1,009,397 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP grew its position in Alibaba Group by 21.2% during the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 3,021,375 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $218,627,000 after buying an additional 529,237 shares during the period. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its holdings in Alibaba Group by 6.9% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 2,789,883 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $296,062,000 after buying an additional 178,999 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,181,498 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $169,088,000 after acquiring an additional 25,054 shares during the period. 13.47% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of BABA stock traded down $2.11 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $100.06. The company had a trading volume of 15,772,004 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,916,445. The stock has a market cap of $253.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.30, a PEG ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 0.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.41 and a quick ratio of 1.41. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $81.84. Alibaba Group has a 52-week low of $66.63 and a 52-week high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 15th. The specialty retailer reported $16.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.87 by $14.57. The firm had revenue of $243.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $248.32 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.08% and a net margin of 7.31%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.47 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 7.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Macquarie upgraded shares of Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Alibaba Group from $110.00 to $100.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $107.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Alibaba Group from $85.00 to $88.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $100.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $112.63.

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.