Short Interest in Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE:VIPS) Decreases By 18.0%

Vipshop Holdings Limited (NYSE:VIPS - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest during the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totalling 7,130,000 shares, a drop of 18.0% from the March 31st total of 8,690,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,990,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.6% of the company's shares are short sold.

Institutional Trading of Vipshop

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Vipshop during the third quarter worth about $599,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Vipshop by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 382,922 shares of the technology company's stock worth $6,299,000 after purchasing an additional 19,367 shares during the period. Ritholtz Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Vipshop by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 136,360 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $1,837,000 after purchasing an additional 29,192 shares during the last quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Vipshop by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,241 shares of the technology company's stock worth $165,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Vipshop by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 9,972 shares of the technology company's stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 1,487 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 48.82% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup cut Vipshop from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Vipshop from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Vipshop from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Vipshop currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $15.30.

Vipshop Stock Performance

NYSE VIPS traded up $0.49 on Friday, hitting $14.04. 180,559 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,801,740. Vipshop has a 52-week low of $11.50 and a 52-week high of $17.94. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $14.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $14.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 6.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.53.

Vipshop (NYSE:VIPS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.05). Vipshop had a net margin of 7.50% and a return on equity of 20.89%. The company had revenue of $4.55 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.82 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Vipshop will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Vipshop Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, April 25th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 11th were issued a $0.43 dividend. This represents a yield of 2.9%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, April 11th. Vipshop's payout ratio is 24.24%.

About Vipshop

Vipshop Holdings Limited operates online platforms in the People's Republic of China. It operates in Vip.com, Shan Shan Outlets, and Others segments. The company offers womenswear, menswear, sportswear and sporting goods, shoes and bags, accessories, baby and children products, skincare and cosmetics, home goods and other lifestyle products, and supermarket products.

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