Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) Short Interest Up 13.9% in August

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 8,700,000 shares, a growth of 13.9% from the August 15th total of 7,640,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,320,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Baidu Price Performance

BIDU traded up $1.72 on Tuesday, hitting $85.80. 760,676 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,333,942. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19, a current ratio of 2.32 and a quick ratio of 2.32. Baidu has a 12 month low of $79.68 and a 12 month high of $136.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $30.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.26 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $87.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $95.62.

Institutional Trading of Baidu

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BIDU. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Baidu during the second quarter valued at approximately $601,000. SRN Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Baidu by 13.2% during the 2nd quarter. SRN Advisors LLC now owns 17,764 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $1,536,000 after buying an additional 2,070 shares in the last quarter. Aristides Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Baidu during the 2nd quarter worth $1,081,000. Truist Financial Corp boosted its stake in Baidu by 3.3% in the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 61,396 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $5,310,000 after buying an additional 1,956 shares in the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Baidu in the second quarter valued at about $606,000.

Analyst Ratings Changes

BIDU has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Baidu from $170.00 to $155.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 15th. Sanford C. Bernstein downgraded Baidu from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $130.00 to $97.00 in a research report on Friday, August 23rd. StockNews.com lowered Baidu from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Baidu from $174.00 to $139.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 22nd. Finally, Benchmark lowered their price objective on Baidu from $180.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $135.13.

About Baidu

Baidu, Inc engages in the provision of internet search services in China. It operates through two segments: Baidu Core and iQIYI. The company offers Baidu App to access search, feed, and other services using mobile devices; Baidu Search to access its search and other services; Baidu Feed that provides users with personalized timeline based on their demographics and interests; Baidu Health that helps users to find the doctor and hospital for healthcare needs; and Haokan, a short video app.