Baidu Inc. [NASDAQ: BIDU] traded at a low on 03/09/23, posting a -7.49 loss after which it closed the day’ session at $131.46. The company report on February 22, 2023 that Baidu Announces US$5 Billion Share Repurchase Program.
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Baidu, Inc. (Nasdaq: BIDU; HKEX: 9888) (“Baidu” or the “Company”), a leading AI company with strong Internet foundation, today announced that its board of directors has authorized a new share repurchase program under which the Company may repurchase up to US$5 billion of its shares, effective through December 31, 2025.
The Company’s proposed repurchases may be made from time to time on the open market at prevailing market prices, in privately negotiated transactions, in block trades and/or through other legally permissible means, depending on market conditions and in accordance with applicable rules and regulations. The Company’s board of directors will review the share repurchase program periodically, and may authorize adjustment of its terms and size.
The results of the trading session contributed to over 4328850 shares changing hands. Over the past one week, the price volatility of Baidu Inc. stands at 3.33% while the volatility over the past one month is 3.96%.
The market cap for BIDU stock reached $44.47 billion, with 345.55 million shares outstanding and 274.55 million shares in the current float. Compared to the average trading volume of 3.80M shares, BIDU reached a trading volume of 4328850 in the most recent trading day, which is why market watchdogs consider the stock to be active.
What do top market gurus say about Baidu Inc. [BIDU]?
Based on careful and fact-backed analyses by Wall Street experts, the current consensus on the target price for BIDU shares is $178.56 per share. Analysis on target price and performance of stocks is usually carefully studied by market experts, and the current Wall Street consensus on BIDU stock is a recommendation set at 1.90. This rating represents a strong Buy recommendation, on the scale from 1 to 5, where 5 would mean strong sell, 4 represents Sell, 3 is Hold, and 2 indicates Buy.
UBS have made an estimate for Baidu Inc. shares, keeping their opinion on the stock as Buy, with their previous recommendation back on September 16, 2022. While these analysts kept the previous recommendation, JP Morgan raised their target price from $160 to $200. The new note on the price target was released on September 01, 2022, representing the official price target for Baidu Inc. stock. Previously, the target price had yet another raise to $188, while Macquarie analysts kept a Outperform rating on BIDU stock. On May 16, 2022, analysts increased their price target for BIDU shares from 90 to 125.
The Average True Range (ATR) for Baidu Inc. is set at 7.13, with the Price to Sales ratio for BIDU stock in the period of the last 12 months amounting to 2.49. The Price to Book ratio for the last quarter was 1.46, with the Price to Cash per share for the same quarter was set at 74.12. Price to Free Cash Flow for BIDU in the course of the last twelve months was 13.35 with Quick ratio for the last quarter at 2.50.
How has BIDU stock performed recently?
Baidu Inc. [BIDU] fell into the red zone at the end of the last week, falling into a negative trend and dropping by -12.49. With this latest performance, BIDU shares dropped by -17.95% in over the last four-week period, additionally sinking by -4.22% over the last 6 months – not to mention a drop of -3.92% in the past year of trading.
Overbought and oversold stocks can be easily traced with the Relative Strength Index (RSI), where an RSI result of over 70 would be overbought, and any rate below 30 would indicate oversold conditions. An RSI rate of 50 would represent a neutral market momentum. The current RSI for BIDU stock in for the last two-week period is set at 42.18, with the RSI for the last a single of trading hit 36.40, and the three-weeks RSI is set at 45.82 for Baidu Inc. [BIDU]. The present Moving Average for the last 50 days of trading for this stock 137.94, while it was recorded at 143.83 for the last single week of trading, and 127.21 for the last 200 days.
Baidu Inc. [BIDU]: Deeper insight into the fundamentals
Operating Margin for any stock indicates how profitable investing would be, and Baidu Inc. [BIDU] shares currently have an operating margin of +12.87 and a Gross Margin at +48.30. Baidu Inc.’s Net Margin is presently recorded at +6.11.
Return on Total Capital for BIDU is now 4.87, given the latest momentum, and Return on Invested Capital for the company is 2.58. Return on Equity for this stock inclined to 3.45, with Return on Assets sitting at 1.95. When it comes to the capital structure of this company, Baidu Inc. [BIDU] has a Total Debt to Total Equity ratio set at 40.88. Additionally, BIDU Total Debt to Total Capital is recorded at 29.02, with Total Debt to Total Assets ending up at 23.37. Long-Term Debt to Equity for the company is recorded at 30.42, with the Long-Term Debt to Total Capital now at 21.60.
Receivables Turnover for the company is 7.69 with a Total Asset Turnover recorded at a value of 0.32.Baidu Inc.’s liquidity data is similarly interesting compelling, with a Quick Ratio of 2.50 and a Current Ratio set at 2.50.
Earnings analysis for Baidu Inc. [BIDU]
The progress of the company may be observed through the prism of EPS growth rate, while Wall Street analysts are focusing on predicting the 5-year EPS growth rate for BIDU. When it comes to the mentioned value, analysts are expecting to see the 5-year EPS growth rate for Baidu Inc. go to 5.52%.
Insider trade positions for Baidu Inc. [BIDU]
There are presently around $10,833 million, or 31.90% of BIDU stock, in the hands of institutional investors. The top three institutional holders of BIDU stocks are: PRIMECAP MANAGEMENT CO/CA/ with ownership of 9,470,484, which is approximately -0.732% of the company’s market cap and around 15.60% of the total institutional ownership; DODGE & COX, holding 6,337,655 shares of the stock with an approximate value of $833.15 million in BIDU stocks shares; and ARGA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT, LP, currently with $449.06 million in BIDU stock with ownership of nearly 10.951% of the company’s market capitalization.
Positions in Baidu Inc. stocks held by institutional investors increased at the end of Wednesday and at the time of the Wednesday reporting period, where 221 institutional holders increased their position in Baidu Inc. [NASDAQ:BIDU] by around 15,856,526 shares. Additionally, 272 investors decreased positions by around 16,029,098 shares, while 100 investors held positions by with 50,523,217 shares. The mentioned changes placed institutional holdings at 82,408,841 shares, according to the latest SEC report filing. BIDU stock had 81 new institutional investments in for a total of 4,966,112 shares, while 90 institutional investors sold positions of 2,859,238 shares during the same period.