Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Short Interest Down 5.6% in March

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 41,560,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 44,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 18,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $70.64 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $73.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.22. The company has a market cap of $179.25 billion, a PE ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Alibaba Group has a twelve month low of $66.63 and a twelve month high of $102.50.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $19.12 by ($0.15). Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 10.75%. The business had revenue of $260.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.44 EPS. Alibaba Group’s quarterly revenue was up 5.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Alibaba Group will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in BABA. Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 322.7% in the third quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 15,029,238 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $1,303,636,000 after buying an additional 11,473,618 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $329,367,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 108,264.6% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,711,488 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $326,945,000 after buying an additional 3,708,063 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Alibaba Group by 461.2% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 4,215,884 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $365,686,000 after buying an additional 3,464,723 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Pool Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $151,726,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $105.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com raised Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Alibaba Group in a research note on Tuesday, April 9th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 12th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Alibaba Group has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $112.91.

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.