Legal & General Group Plc Purchases 70,062 Shares of JD.com, Inc. $JD

Key Points

• Legal & General Group Plc increased its JD.com stake by 4.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 70,062 additional shares and bringing its holding to 1,545,460 shares worth about $44.3 million.
• JD.com is facing new EU regulatory scrutiny over its roughly $2.6 billion bid for Germany’s Ceconomy, with the European Commission launching a full-scale probe that could delay or block the deal.
• Analysts remain generally upbeat on the stock: several firms recently raised price targets, and JD.com now carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $38.50.

Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD - Free Report) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,545,460 shares of the information services provider's stock after purchasing an additional 70,062 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc owned about 0.11% of JD.com worth $44,346,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc increased its position in shares of JD.com by 365.8% during the third quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 750 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in JD.com by 62.0% in the 3rd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,043 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in JD.com by 657.9% in the 3rd quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,152 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in JD.com in the 3rd quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in JD.com by 445.3% in the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,456 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. 15.98% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key JD.com News

Here are the key news stories impacting JD.com this week:

• Positive Sentiment: JD.com’s founder publicly said the company will protect jobs and prioritize workers as it expands automation, which may help support sentiment around the company’s AI and logistics strategy. JD Founder Vows To Protect 900,000 Jobs From AI Automation
• Neutral Sentiment: JD.com is attracting heavy search interest on Zacks, signaling heightened investor curiosity, but the item does not include new fundamental or business developments. Investors Heavily Search JD.com, Inc. (JD): Here is What You Need to Know
• Neutral Sentiment: A similar article also noted that JD.com is one of the most-searched stocks on Yahoo Finance, reinforcing attention around the name rather than pointing to a specific business catalyst. Investors Heavily Search JD.com, Inc. (JD): Here is What You Need to Know
• Negative Sentiment: The European Commission opened a full-scale probe into JD.com’s roughly $2.6 billion bid for Germany’s Ceconomy, saying the deal could involve Chinese subsidies and potentially distort competition in the EU. That raises the risk of delays, concessions, or even a blocked transaction. JD.com's Ceconomy deal faces full-scale EU subsidy investigation
• Negative Sentiment: Separate coverage also highlighted deeper EU scrutiny of the Ceconomy takeover, reinforcing concerns that JD.com’s overseas expansion could face regulatory hurdles. JD.com's $2.6 Billion Ceconomy Takeover Move Faces In-Depth EU Probe

JD.com Price Performance

JD.com stock opened at $28.83 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a current ratio of 1.18. The firm has a market cap of $41.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.52 and a beta of 0.41. The business's fifty day moving average is $30.01 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.18. JD.com, Inc. has a 52 week low of $24.51 and a 52 week high of $36.86.

JD.com (NASDAQ:JD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 31st. The information services provider reported $0.37 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. JD.com had a return on equity of 5.90% and a net margin of 1.04%.The business had revenue of $45.79 billion during the quarter. Equities research analysts forecast that JD.com, Inc. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

JD.com Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Investors of record on Thursday, April 9th were issued a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from JD.com's previous annual dividend of $0.76. This represents a dividend yield of 353.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 9th. JD.com's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.56%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on JD shares. Citigroup boosted their price target on JD.com from $35.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Arete Research set a $37.00 price target on JD.com in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price target on JD.com from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. Nomura boosted their price target on JD.com from $40.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of JD.com in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, JD.com has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $38.50.

JD.com Profile

JD.com is a major Chinese e-commerce company that operates a comprehensive online retail platform selling a wide range of consumer goods, including electronics, appliances, apparel, groceries and everyday household items. The company combines direct retailing—purchasing inventory and selling products itself—with a marketplace for third-party merchants, offering consumers both self-operated and third-party choices. In addition to its core retail business, JD.com has expanded into adjacent services such as digital marketplaces for cross-border commerce, online pharmacy and healthcare services, and enterprise-facing cloud and technology solutions.

A distinctive feature of JD.com's business model is its integrated logistics and fulfillment network.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding JD? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.