Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Alibaba Group Holding Limited (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 41,560,000 shares, a drop of 5.6% from the March 15th total of 44,030,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 18,410,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.7% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on BABA. StockNews.com upgraded Alibaba Group from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $121.00 to $105.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Alibaba Group from $95.00 to $90.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 19th. Macquarie downgraded Alibaba Group from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $88.50 to $85.40 in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on Alibaba Group from $126.00 to $124.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $112.91.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $53,000. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,452,000. Dakota Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Alibaba Group during the first quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 11.3% during the first 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 during the period. Finally, Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its position in shares of Alibaba Group by 46.0% during the first 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 13.47% of the company's stock.

Alibaba Group Price Performance

Shares of BABA stock traded down $1.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $69.61. The stock had a trading volume of 16,894,013 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,466,467. Alibaba Group has a one year low of $66.63 and a one year high of $102.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 1.80 and a quick ratio of 1.80. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $73.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $76.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $176.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.84 and a beta of 0.47.

Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The specialty retailer reported $18.97 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $19.12 by ($0.15). The company had revenue of $260.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $260.26 billion. Alibaba Group had a return on equity of 12.65% and a net margin of 10.75%. The company's revenue was up 5.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $2.44 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Alibaba Group will post 7.97 EPS for the current year.

Alibaba Group Company Profile

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.