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 decrease in short interest in the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 41,560,000 shares, a decrease of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 44,030,000 shares. Approximately 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 18,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.3 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on BABA. StockNews.com raised shares of Alibaba Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 27th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating and set a $118.00 price objective on shares of Alibaba Group in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $138.00 to $109.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on shares of Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Macquarie lowered shares of Alibaba Group from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $112.91.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Alibaba Group

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new position in Alibaba Group during the 1st quarter worth about $53,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $2,452,000. Dakota Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Alibaba Group in the 1st quarter valued at about $390,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 11.3% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 7,342 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $799,000 after buying an additional 743 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.0% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 7,816 shares of the specialty retailer’s stock valued at $850,000 after buying an additional 2,464 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company’s stock.

Alibaba Group Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE BABA opened at $70.64 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 1.80 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $73.51 and a 200 day moving average of $76.22. Alibaba Group has a 12-month low of $66.63 and a 12-month high of $102.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $179.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.03 and a beta of 0.47.

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