Short Interest in Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Declines By 14.3%

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on BABA. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $106.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 9th. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Alibaba Group from $137.00 to $130.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Macquarie upgraded Alibaba Group from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $145.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Alibaba Group from $88.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Alibaba Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, December 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $115.13.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 8.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 348,934 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $25,123,000 after purchasing an additional 27,058 shares during the period. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its position in Alibaba Group by 8.0% in the second quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 13,007 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $937,000 after acquiring an additional 964 shares during the period. Seven Eight Capital LP purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the 2nd quarter worth $1,045,000. XTX Topco Ltd grew its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 83.5% during the 2nd quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 12,885 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $928,000 after acquiring an additional 5,865 shares during the period. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 25.6% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 21,621 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $1,557,000 after purchasing an additional 4,408 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Up 3.3 %

Alibaba Group stock traded up $2.73 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.16. The stock had a trading volume of 21,072,995 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,289,486. The stock has a market capitalization of $202.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.40 and a beta of 0.30. The company has a quick ratio of 1.37, a current ratio of 1.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $86.06 and its 200-day moving average price is $87.78. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $117.82.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last issued its 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. The business 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 was up 5.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.82 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Alibaba Group will post 8.44 EPS 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.