PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) Short Interest Down 20.0% in October

PDD Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PDD) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 26,390,000 shares, a decrease of 20.0% from the October 15th total of 32,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 16,040,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on PDD. Citigroup cut shares of PDD from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $194.00 to $120.00 in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America reduced their target price on PDD from $206.00 to $170.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Barclays cut their price objective on PDD from $224.00 to $158.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on PDD from $193.00 to $151.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, August 26th. Finally, Nomura Securities upgraded shares of PDD to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, PDD presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.40.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On PDD

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Prospera Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of PDD in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Venturi Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in PDD in the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of PDD during the second quarter worth approximately $32,000. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of PDD by 3,883.3% during the second quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PDD in the third quarter valued at approximately $34,000. 29.07% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

PDD Stock Performance

NASDAQ PDD traded up $1.67 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $114.00. 8,874,029 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,364,797. The company has a current ratio of 2.11, a quick ratio of 2.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. PDD has a 52 week low of $88.01 and a 52 week high of $164.69. The firm has a market capitalization of $156.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.28, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.71. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $121.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.57.

PDD (NASDAQ:PDD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 26th. The company reported $23.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.66 by $20.58. PDD had a net margin of 28.92% and a return on equity of 48.14%. The business had revenue of $97.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $100.17 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 85.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that PDD will post 11.19 EPS for the current year.

About PDD

PDD Holdings Inc, a multinational commerce group, owns and operates a portfolio of businesses. It operates Pinduoduo, an e-commerce platform that offers products in various categories, including agricultural produce, apparel, shoes, bags, mother and childcare products, food and beverage, electronic appliances, furniture and household goods, cosmetics and other personal care, sports and fitness items and auto accessories; and Temu, an online marketplace.