JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) Receives “Buy” Rating from Benchmark

Benchmark reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. Benchmark currently has a $55.00 price target on the information services provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on JD. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on JD.com from $28.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Friday. HSBC boosted their price target on shares of JD.com from $38.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Thursday, March 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an equal weight rating and set a $27.00 target price on shares of JD.com in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Susquehanna lowered their price objective on shares of JD.com from $30.00 to $28.00 and set a neutral rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Macquarie raised JD.com from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and raised their price target for the stock from $26.00 to $40.00 in a report on Friday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $37.47.

JD.com Stock Performance

NASDAQ JD traded up $1.00 on Friday, reaching $35.27. 19,445,980 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,295,834. JD.com has a fifty-two week low of $20.82 and a fifty-two week high of $41.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a current ratio of 1.16. The firm has a market cap of $55.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 0.27 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.46.

JD.com (NASDAQ:JD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 6th. The information services provider reported $5.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.56 by $4.74. JD.com had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 2.26%. The firm had revenue of $306.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $300.21 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.54 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that JD.com will post 2.85 EPS for the current fiscal year.

JD.com Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 29th. Investors of record on Friday, April 5th were given a $0.74 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 4th. This represents a yield of 2.99%. JD.com’s dividend payout ratio is presently 33.79%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On JD.com

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Aspex Management HK Ltd acquired a new position in JD.com in the fourth quarter worth approximately $114,009,000. FIL Ltd boosted its stake in JD.com by 124.3% in the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 6,210,546 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $179,423,000 after purchasing an additional 3,441,605 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in JD.com by 292.4% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 4,436,719 shares of the information services provider’s stock worth $120,679,000 after purchasing an additional 3,305,956 shares in the last quarter. Discerene Group LP lifted its holdings in shares of JD.com by 66.0% in the first quarter. Discerene Group LP now owns 5,554,851 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $152,147,000 after purchasing an additional 2,207,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polunin Capital Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of JD.com in the first quarter worth $41,477,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 15.98% of the company’s stock.

JD.com Company Profile

JD.com, Inc operates as a supply chain-based technology and service provider in the People's Republic of China. The company offers computers, communication, and consumer electronics products, as well as home appliances; and general merchandise products comprising food, beverage and fresh produce, baby and maternity products, furniture and household goods, cosmetics and other personal care items, pharmaceutical and healthcare products, industrial products, books, automobile accessories, apparel and footwear, bags, and jewelry.