Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) Short Interest Update

Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU – Get Rating) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 6,220,000 shares, a growth of 10.3% from the February 13th total of 5,640,000 shares. Approximately 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 3,830,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on BIDU shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Baidu from $140.00 to $120.00 in a research report on Wednesday, November 23rd. Loop Capital cut their price objective on Baidu from $185.00 to $167.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Baidu from $217.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 17th. Bank of America reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $224.00 price target on shares of Baidu in a report on Monday, November 28th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on Baidu from $182.00 to $185.00 in a report on Thursday, February 23rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.06.

Baidu Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:BIDU opened at $136.70 on Wednesday. Baidu has a twelve month low of $73.58 and a twelve month high of $160.88. The firm has a market cap of $47.24 billion, a PE ratio of 47.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a quick ratio of 2.46 and a current ratio of 2.67. The business has a fifty day moving average of $140.08 and a 200-day moving average of $120.63.

Baidu announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 22nd that permits the company to repurchase $0.00 in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the information services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Institutional Trading of Baidu

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Captrust Financial Advisors raised its position in shares of Baidu by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 1,941 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $289,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC raised its position in shares of Baidu by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 3,471 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 88 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Baidu by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 3,012 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in Baidu by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 29,687 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $3,396,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its position in Baidu by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 6,447 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $959,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 23.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Baidu

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Baidu, Inc engages in the provision of internet search and online marketing solutions. The firm’s products and services include Baidu App, Baidu Search, Baidu Feed, Haokan, Quanmin, Baidu Post Bar, Baidu Knows, Baidu Encyclopedia, Baidu Input Method Editor or Baidu IME and Overseas Products. It operates through the following segments: Baidu Core and iQIYI.