JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) Sees Large Growth in Short Interest

JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 29,856,576 shares, an increase of 16.7% from the March 31st total of 25,581,358 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 9,952,928 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 2.5% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dodge & Cox boosted its stake in shares of JD.com by 0.5% in the third quarter. Dodge & Cox now owns 18,792,249 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $657,353,000 after buying an additional 86,300 shares during the period. SIH Partners LLLP increased its stake in JD.com by 74.1% during the 4th quarter. SIH Partners LLLP now owns 4,991,448 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $143,255,000 after acquiring an additional 2,125,212 shares during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. increased its stake in JD.com by 11.6% during the 4th quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 4,441,095 shares of the information services provider's stock worth $127,459,000 after acquiring an additional 463,033 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its holdings in JD.com by 139.0% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 4,334,816 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $128,181,000 after acquiring an additional 2,521,045 shares in the last quarter. Finally, North of South Capital LLP raised its holdings in JD.com by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. North of South Capital LLP now owns 4,253,012 shares of the information services provider's stock valued at $122,061,000 after acquiring an additional 180,081 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.98% of the company's stock.

JD.com Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ JD opened at $29.70 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.22 and a quick ratio of 0.91. The firm has a market cap of $42.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.88, a P/E/G ratio of 8.18 and a beta of 0.36. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $28.54 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $29.48. JD.com has a one year low of $24.51 and a one year high of $38.08.

JD.com (NASDAQ:JD - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The information services provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. JD.com had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 1.48%.The company had revenue of $50.35 billion during the quarter. On average, equities analysts forecast that JD.com will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

JD.com Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 29th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 9th were paid a $1.00 dividend. This is a positive change from JD.com's previous annual dividend of $0.76. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a yield of 353.0%. JD.com's dividend payout ratio is presently 55.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

JD has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of JD.com from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 18th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of JD.com from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Zacks Research raised shares of JD.com from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Arete Research set a $37.00 price target on shares of JD.com in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Finally, Nomura increased their price target on shares of JD.com from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, March 9th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.38.

JD.com Company 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.

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