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

JD.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:JD) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of April. As of April 15th, there was short interest totaling 29,856,576 shares, a growth 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. Approximately 2.5% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on JD shares. Susquehanna reduced their target price on JD.com from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 9th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of JD.com from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of JD.com from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of JD.com from $22.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of JD.com from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Monday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $37.38.

JD.com Price Performance

Shares of JD traded down $0.36 on Friday, reaching $29.96. The stock had a trading volume of 4,697,596 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,316,377. The firm has a market capitalization of $42.92 billion, a PE ratio of 17.02, a PEG ratio of 8.34 and a beta of 0.36. The company has a quick ratio of 0.91, a current ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $28.60 and a 200 day moving average of $29.48. JD.com has a twelve month low of $24.51 and a twelve month high of $38.08.

JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Saturday, February 14th. The information services provider reported $0.04 earnings per share for the quarter. The business had revenue of $50.35 billion for the quarter. JD.com had a return on equity of 7.56% and a net margin of 1.48%. Sell-side analysts expect that JD.com will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

JD.com Increases Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 9th. This represents a dividend yield of 353.0%. This is an increase from JD.com’s previous annual dividend of $0.76. JD.com’s payout ratio is currently 55.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JD.com

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Binnacle Investments Inc grew its holdings in shares of JD.com by 365.8% in the 3rd quarter. Binnacle Investments Inc now owns 750 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the period. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in JD.com by 1,020.0% in the 4th quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 1,120 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 1,020 shares in the last quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in JD.com in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Assetmark Inc. lifted 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. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in JD.com by 191.3% in the 4th quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 1,241 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 815 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.98% of the company’s stock.

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.