Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) was the target of a large growth in short interest in August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 41,260,000 shares, a growth of 7.5% from the August 15th total of 38,390,000 shares. Currently, 1.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 17,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $149.00 to $151.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 11th. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $131.00 to $142.00 in a report on Sunday, August 13th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on shares of Alibaba Group in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Alibaba Group from $130.00 to $135.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, fourteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Alibaba Group currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $138.64.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:BABA traded up $0.01 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $87.03. 2,096,618 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,699,248. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 1.92 and a quick ratio of 1.92. Alibaba Group has a 12 month low of $58.01 and a 12 month high of $121.30. The company has a 50 day moving average of $93.11 and a 200-day moving average of $89.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $223.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.71 and a beta of 0.70.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 10th. The specialty retailer reported $17.37 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $14.59 by $2.78. Alibaba Group had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.55%. The business had revenue of $234.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $224.75 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.40 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Alibaba Group will post 8.2 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $246,000. Portside Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in Alibaba Group in the 2nd quarter worth about $4,112,000. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd grew its position in Alibaba Group by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 6,565 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $547,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOKF NA grew its position in Alibaba Group by 115.6% in the 2nd quarter. BOKF NA now owns 3,605 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock worth $300,000 after purchasing an additional 1,933 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 14.22% of the company’s stock.

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.