Fluent Financial LLC Cuts Holdings in Baidu, Inc. $BIDU

Fluent Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Baidu, Inc. (NASDAQ:BIDU) by 61.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,153 shares of the information services provider’s stock after selling 14,453 shares during the quarter. Fluent Financial LLC’s holdings in Baidu were worth $1,206,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Binnacle Investments Inc purchased a new position in Baidu in the second quarter worth $29,000. Winthrop Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Baidu during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Baidu in the 2nd quarter worth about $43,000. CX Institutional increased its position in shares of Baidu by 34.1% during the 2nd quarter. CX Institutional now owns 715 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $61,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Baidu by 127.6% during the 2nd quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 742 shares of the information services provider’s stock valued at $64,000 after purchasing an additional 416 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research upgraded Baidu from a “sell” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $143.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. National Bankshares raised shares of Baidu to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Baidu from $81.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Nomura set a $140.00 price objective on shares of Baidu and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Dbs Bank raised shares of Baidu from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the company from $85.00 to $177.00 in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have assigned a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Baidu presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $146.11.

Baidu Stock Performance

Shares of BIDU stock opened at $123.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $42.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.14 and a beta of 0.44. Baidu, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $74.71 and a fifty-two week high of $149.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23, a quick ratio of 1.91 and a current ratio of 1.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $121.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $107.20.

Baidu Profile

Baidu, Inc, founded in 2000 and headquartered in Beijing, is a Chinese multinational technology company best known for operating one of China’s leading internet search engines. The company built its business around online search and related advertising services, providing search, content aggregation and targeted ad placements to consumers and marketers across China. Baidu went public on the NASDAQ in 2005 and has since diversified beyond search into a broader technology and AI-focused portfolio.

Core products and services include the Baidu search platform and mobile app, Baidu Maps and Baidu Baike (an online encyclopedia), along with digital content initiatives.